Stained Glass Eggnog Custard Tart
This rich and creamy custard tart is pure holiday indulgence, with a tender shortbread crust, decadent eggnog filling, and sweet rum glaze that tastes as beautiful as it looks.
Happy Thanksgiving! Hard to believe it’s already here, huh? It’s almost like the passage of time is unstoppable or something. Since I’m sure your Thanksgiving menu is set by this point (or maybe it isn’t, you spontaneous maniac, you), I’m jumping right into Christmas with this one. It’s eggnog season, baby! Let’s drink some eggs! Or I guess in this case, make them into a drink, and then custard-ify that drink, and then bake it so we can eat the thing we were going to drink. Isn’t baking fun?
Servings: 12 to 16 | Prep Time: 1 hr 25 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Chilling Time: 4 hrs
Food processor / Blender
Silicone mat
Plastic wrap
Rolling pin
11” removable-bottom tart pan
Aluminum foil
Pie weights
Saucepans
Fine-mesh sieve
Offset spatula
Stained Glass Stencil (link)
Cardstock (if printing and cutting stencil by hand) / Acrylic (if using a cutting machine) at least 9.5” x 9.5”
Small paintbrush
Shortbread Crust:
3 cups flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1 ⅓ cups butter, cold
Rum & Eggnog Custard:
2 cups eggnog, divided
1 tsp vanilla
⅔ cup sugar
2 egg yolks
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp rum flavoring
¼ tsp orange flavoring
Stained Glass Decoration:
Clear rum extract
Black food coloring
Green food coloring
Red food coloring
Yellow food coloring
Rum Sugar Glaze:
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup water
¼ tsp rum flavoring
Shortbread Crust (20 minutes + 25 minutes baking + 1 hour chilling)
In a food processor, pulse together the flour and powdered sugar until thoroughly combined.
Cube the butter and toss with the flour mixture so they are fully coated.
Blend the butter with the flour until mixture resembles fine crumbs and just starts to cling.
Pour the dough out onto a silicone mat and gently press the crumbs together until they hold a disc shape.
Cover the disc in plastic and chill for about 30 minutes.
Once the dough is chilled, lightly dust the silicone mat with flour and roll the dough out to a circle about 14” in diameter and ⅛ inch thick.
Carefully transfer the dough to an 11" removable-bottom tart pan, gently lifting and dropping in the sides of the dough to avoid tearing.
Press gently (using your knuckles or a ball of excess dough) into the corners and sides.
Carefully roll a rolling pin over the top of the pan's edge to cut off any excess dough.
Chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 325° F.
Line the interior of the chilled tart crust with aluminum foil and fill with pie weight of choice (I use ceramic weights, but you can use uncooked rice or even flour).
Bake for 14 minutes.
Remove the weights and foil carefully, as they will be hot, and the dough will be quite fragile.
Dock the bottom of the crust with a fork and return to the oven.
Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, or until the bottom of the crust is dry and the edge is just starting to turn golden.
Let cool completely.
Rum & Eggnog Custard (15 minutes + 30 minutes baking + 2 hours chilling)
Reduce the oven temperature to 300° F.
In a medium saucepan, combine 1 ½ cups eggnog and the vanilla.
Cook over high heat, stirring often until it just starts to simmer. Remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk remaining ½ cup eggnog, sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch.
While whisking vigorously, slowly pour the hot eggnog into the egg mixture.
Return mixture to saucepan and cook over high heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens and comes to a boil.
Remove from heat and whisk in the rum and orange flavoring.
Pass through a fine-mesh sieve.
Fill the tart crust with the custard and spread with an offset spatula until the top is even and smooth.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the edges have set but the middle is still slightly wobbly.
Let cool completely in the pan.
Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface and transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours, or until set.
Stained Glass Decoration (30 minutes + 1 hour chilling)
Print out the stencil on a sturdy material and cut out the spaces between the lines (or cut it out on a cutting machine). The stencil should be 9.5” wide, so you may need to print it on two pieces of paper and tape them together.
Remove the custard tart from the fridge and carefully place the stencil on top.
In a small bowl, combine a small amount of clear rum extract and a couple drops of food coloring to create an edible paint. (The alcohol in the extract will evaporate quickly, so make only one color at a time.)
With a small paintbrush, paint the tart with each of the colors, applying a very thin coat so it dries quickly.
Once you’ve painted all the colors (except black), remove the stencil.
Make the black edible paint and carefully fill in all the lines.
If necessary, carefully blot sections of the tart with a paper towel to remove excess dye.
Place the tart in the fridge and let the paint dry completely for at least an hour.
Once the dye is fully dry and does not transfer when touched, prepare the glaze.
Rum Sugar Glaze (20 minutes)
In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, water, and rum flavoring.
Heat on medium-low, whisking occasionally, until the sugar fully dissolves, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Let the glaze cool for 5 minutes.
Pour the glaze over the tart, starting in the middle and going out in a spiral pattern so it covers the top evenly.
Tilt the tart gently to make sure the glaze reaches all the way to the crust.
Serve immediately. Leftovers may be stored in the fridge, covered, for up to 5 days.
Enjoy!
Be sure to check out my Best Practices page for tips on how to make this recipe yourself. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions and feel free to tag me on Instagram @made.by.shade if you make it!
-Shade
This looks incredible! Might have to try it 😃
Looks amazing and delicious 😋