225g (8oz) plain flour, sifted, plus extra to dust
175g (6oz) cold butter, diced
50g (2oz) golden caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 medium egg yolk
For the filling
8 large egg yolks
75g (3oz) golden caster sugar
450ml (¾ pint) single cream
Nutmeg for grating
Directions
Step 1
Put flour into a bowl and rub in butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar and zest.
Step 2
Lightly beat egg yolk with 2-3tbsp ice cold water and, using a knife, stir small amounts into the flour until it starts to clump together but isn't too sticky or dry. Bring together with your hands. Knead lightly until smooth. Shape into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30min.
Step 3
Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 3mm (1/8in) thickness. Use to line a 23cm (9in) diameter x 4cm (1½in) deep flan tin. Prick base and chill for 30min. Preheat oven to 200ºC (180ºC fan) mark 6 and put tin on to a baking sheet.
Step 4
Line tin with greaseproof paper. Cover with baking beans and bake for 12-15min. Remove beans and paper and continue baking for 5-10min until cooked through. Reduce oven temperature to 130ºC (110ºC fan) mark ½.
Step 5
Mix the eggs and sugar together with a wooden spoon. Gradually stir in cream, then strain into a jug to remove any eggy strands. Pour mixture into pastry case and bake for 40-50min until just set with a little wobble. Grate over plenty of nutmeg and cool in the tin on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
