Posted : November 9, 2020
Our blog is chock full of great ideas for fun things to see and do in York Durham and Headwaters. We are always adding new content and updating old posts, but sometimes you might stumble upon something from our vault. If this article has inspired you to hit the road, be sure to double-check that the featured stops in this post are still welcoming visitors.

INGREDIENTS
Pastry
- 1½ cups of flour
- ⅔ cup of butter
- ⅓ cup of sugar
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- Zest of 1 orange
Custard
- 15 egg yolks
- ½ cup of sugar
- 3 cups of 35% cream
- 1 tablespoon of good vanilla
- Pinch of allspice
Plums
- 8 plums
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla
- ¼ cup of local raspberry jam
- ¼ cup of water
(Serves 12)
Tip: You can freeze egg whites. Fill an ice cube tray with the egg white mixture (12 eggs = 12 cubes), freeze overnight and pop into ziplock bags. Great for egg white omelettes, meringue and macaroons!
INSTRUCTIONS
Pastry
- Cube butter and refrigerate until cold.
- In a food processor add flour and pulse with cold butter until it resembles ground breadcrumbs.
- Add orange zest and mix to combine.
- Add egg and egg yolk and bring pastry together to a dough. Do not overwork. Wrap pastry and cool.
- Once the pastry is cool and firm, roll out onto a floured counter. Form pastry into a 2-inch deep spring form pan and line with aluminum foil & baking beans.
- Cook pastry shell in a 350° preheated oven until edges turn golden, now remove beans, now fork the base and return the pastry shell to the oven and bake until centre is almost fully brown, brush pastry with a little egg yolk to seal the fork holes. Leave to cool.
Custard
- Mix egg yolks and sugar in a medium mixing bowl.
- In a medium saucepan add cream & vanilla and bring to a simmer.
- Slowly add 1 ladle of simmered cream to your egg yolk and sugar and mix to start the egg cooking process. Then add all the eggs back to the sauce pot and slowly bring to a simmer until the custard starts to thicken. Do not boil.
- Remove from heat and let cool.
Tart
- Place the tart shell on an oven rack and pour custard until reaches the brim. Top with a pinch of all spice. Bake at 270° until custard is set (about 40 minutes).
- Remove plum stones. Add all other ingredients to a saucepan, bring to a simmer, then add plum halves to poach. Remove from heat leave to cool.
- To serve, slice custard tart into 12 generous slices and enjoy with the poached plums and some sherry!!

All of our Chefs and cooks are passionate about using hyper-local ingredients. If you can’t find an ingredient close to home, we have suggested some great alternatives. Visit the YDH Virtual Market to find everything you need to make the Ultimate Holiday Feast!