Recipe: Rose Pistachio Tart

A crisp pistachio pastry shell filled with smooth, rose-scented custard and finished with chopped pistachios and delicate rose petals. The nutty pistachio and floral rose combination makes this an elegant dessert for a festive table.

Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 35 mins | Chill time: 2 hrs | Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the tart shell:

• ½ cup pistachios
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 150g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 tbsp ice-cold water, or as needed
• A pinch of salt

For the custard:

• 3 cups full-fat milk
• 6 egg yolks
• ⅔ cup caster sugar
• ¼ cup cornflour
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp rose water

For garnish:

• 2 tbsp chopped pistachios
• Edible dried rose petals

Get the ingredients here

Method

1. Grind the pistachios into a fine powder. Mix with flour, icing sugar and salt.
2. Add the cold butter and rub it into the flour mixture until it looks crumbly. Add the ice water gradually and bring everything together into a dough.
3. Shape the dough into a disc, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out the chilled dough and use it to line a greased 23cm tart tin. Trim the edges, prick the base with a fork and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the tart shell with parchment and add baking weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the weights and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the pastry is golden. Cool completely.
6. For the custard, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and flour together in a bowl.
7. Heat the milk and vanilla in a saucepan until hot but not boiling. Gradually whisk the warm milk into the egg mixture.
8. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until thick and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in rose water.
9. Pour the custard into the cooled tart shell and smooth the surface. Refrigerate for about 2 hours, until firm.
10. Scatter chopped pistachios and edible rose petals over the top before serving.

Tip: Rose water can quickly overpower the delicate pistachio flavour, so start with a small amount. You can always add a little more, but you can’t take it out.