From royal approval to marriage proposals, Bread Ahead’s tasty bakes speak straight to the heart. This week, we are sharing a heavenly custard tart; creamy, sweet and with a pinch of nutmeg these little tarts have caused so many impromptu proposals, they should come with a warning.

You Will Need
(Makes one large tart - cook a little less if making small ones)
Pastry
250g softened unsalted butter
160g caster sugar
20g soft light brown sugar
4 eggs yolks, plus 1 yolk for brushing
450g strong white bread flour
Pinch of salt

Filling
1 vanilla pod
800ml double cream
9 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
1 whole nutmeg for grating

One. First, the pastry. Put the butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer with a beater attachment and cream together until white and fluffy.

Two. Add the egg yolks one at a time to help prevent them curling, then sift in the flour and salt and mix until all is incorporated.

Three. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and bring together, then wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 5-6 minutes.

Four. Grease and flour a 30cm tart tin, 3-4cm deep. Take the pastry out the fridge and allow it to soften a little. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a circle about 35cm across and about 3mm thick, and line your prepared tart case with it. Chill for 2-3 hours in the fridge or 45 minutes in the freezer.

Five. Preheat the oven to 160c.Take the tart case straight from the fridge or freezer, cover with cling film and fill with baking beans,then bake for 25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

Six. Remove the cling film and beans, then put the tart case back into the oven and bake for a further 8-10 minutes or until it is golden brown all over (DO NOT UNDER-BAKE THE TART CASE OTHERWISE YOU WILL HAVE A SOGGY BOTTOM).

Seven. Remove the tart case from the oven and brush with beaten egg yolk (this seals any holes), then place on a rack still in the tin and cool the pastry completely. 

Change the oven temperature to 140c.

The filling. 
Eight. Slit the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Put the seeds and pod in a saucepan with the double cream and bring slowly to the boil to infuse the cream with the vanilla. 

Nine. In a large bowl, mix the egg yolks and sugar together just for a minute with a whisk. Then pour the boiling cream over the mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling.

Ten. Pass through a fine sieve, if there is lots of froth on top; just spoon it off and discard

Eleven. Pour the custard mix into the blind baked tart case, then grate the nutmeg on top.

Twelve. Place carefully in the oven without spilling any of down the sides of the pastry case; if you do, you will end up with soggy pastry, which is a no-no for a custard tart. Bake at 140°C/Gas Mark 1 for about 40 minutes, until there is only a small wobble in the center of the tart.

Thriteen. Take out of the oven and place on a cooling rack. Once cooled, feed to your loved ones with a cup of tea. 

Don't want to bake them yourself? Pop along to one of their shops on Saturday to pick up freshly baked treats.  

For this month's Recipe Friday, we'll be practicing proving and baking with Bread Ahead. Opened in 2013, Justin Gellatly and the rest of the team have gained royal clients with their buns.

Enriched with butter, these soft buns are fit for the most special of occasions, including the bacon buns the morning after the royal wedding! So why don’t you bake a batch this weekend and treat your mum like a royal.

You Will Need:
(Makes 24 buns)

600g strong white flour (plus extra for dusting)
11g fine sea salt
44g caster sugar
330g water
22g fresh yeast, crumbled
100g softened unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

One. Place all of the ingredients apart from the butter in an electric mixer using the dough hook attachment and mix on a medium speed for 6-8 minutes or until it starts coming away from the sides. Then turn off the mixer and have a cuppa for 10 minutes while the dough rest. Don’t have a mixer? Use your hands, it’ll be sticky to begin with but keep going, it’ll get there.

Two. Start the mixer up again on a medium speed and slowly add the butter to the dough, once all the butter is added mix on a high speed for 1 minute, then turn off the mixer.

Three. Cover the bowl with cling film and let it rest for 10 minutes, then divide into 40g pieces and roll into balls and place on a lined baking tray and cover loosely with cling film. Prove until double in size (about 1 hour).

Four. Egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 200c for around 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Five. While the buns are still warm fill them! Go wild, bacon, avocado, eggs, tomatoes, extra avocado -- fill them until your heart's content and then tuck in.

Don't want to bake them yourself? Pop along to Borough Market on Saturday to pick up freshly baked treats. 

This month we’ve been pinching recipes from our favourite food blogs. Last week Aimee-lee gave us Deliciously Ella’s tasty bean stew, but with the first signs of spring in the air, I couldn’t help embrace spring veggies like a much missed old friend.

This week’s recipe, slightly tweaked, comes from My New Roots and is a big bowl of spring wonderfulness, sure to leave you feeling like a daisy.

Spring Abundance Bowl
(Serves 4)

You will need:

125g quinoa, soaked if possible
1 tsp. sea salt
1 bunch asparagus, approx. 20 spears
250g shelled peas: frozen are fine if, it’s what is available to you
2 spring onion
1-2 ripe avocados
Sprouts of your choice: I chose pea sprouts, but any kind will work
1 lemon
Dill dressing: chop dill, mix into natural yogurt, voilà!
Pickled veg, if they’re in the cupboard

Directions:

One. Rinse quinoa well, drain and add to a pot with 1 ¾ cup water (2 cups if not soaked) and salt. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer until water is absorbed, 15-20 minutes. Zest 1 lemon into the pot, fluff with a fork and set aside.

Two. While the quinoa is cooking, prep the vegetables. Grill or steam the asparagus. Shell the peas (if you want to steam them, add them to the pot of quinoa 3-4 minutes before cooking time is up). Slice avocado and spring onion. Mix your dill and yogurt together, squeeze some lemon in if you’re feeling zesty.

Three. To serve, place ¼ of the cooked quinoa in a large bowl, add all veggies as desired, including some pickled veg if you’ve got them, drizzle with dressing and a squeeze lemon juice. Season to taste. Enjoy.

Original recipe and image by Sarah Britton of My New Roots. Sarah's debut book, My New Roots: Inspired Plant-Based Recipes for Every Season is out now and published by Macmillan.

Deliciously Ella's Cannellini Bean Stew is my party trick. By adding just a few extra ingredients to her kitchen-cupboard recipe, I've fooled colleagues, family and friends into believing I'm a kitchen whizz despite the fact I've never baked in my my twenty-two years (ever) and survive largely on cereal eaten straight from the box while standing up. 

The best thing about this winter warmer is its versatility. Served with rosemary roasties and all the trimmings, it's won the hearts of die-hard carnivores expecting a Sunday bird. Paired with nachos and a sprinkling of cheddar, it's consoled friends struck down by flu. It works wonderfully with Ella's suggestion of marinated kale, avocado and brown rice, but it's equally lovely served alone with a slather of crusty bread or a dollop of buttered sweet potato mash. It's also my lunchbox saviour - livening up sad jacket potatoes and the simplest of desktop salads.

For the Stew

1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes (drained weight of 150g)
1 onion (chopped)
2x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
2x 400g tins of cannellini beans
1x 400g of butter beans (optional)
2 heaped tablespoons of tahini
1 teaspoon of ground chilli
3x cloves of garlic
2x heaped tablespoons of cumin seeds (toasted)
1.5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 bunch of corriander (to serve, optional)
2x fresh limes (to serve, optional)

One. Start by toasting the cumin seeds in a frying pan on a low heat. 

Two. When the seeds start to smell delicious and turn a little darker in colour, throw in the chopped onion and garlic. Add one tablespoon of olive oil and leave to fry until the onions have softened and browned. 

Three. In the meantime, pour the beans into a colander, rinse with water and drain before adding to the frying pan. Repeat this step for the sundried tomatoes, then add the tinned tomatoes, tahini and chilli. Leave to stew until hot. Our tahini serving is more liberal than Ella's and gives a nuttier taste, because we're sesame addicts. Add a pinch of salt (maldon flakes are best) and a crack of black pepper. 

Four. Ellla leaves hers for just a few minutes and serves immediately. While this meal is an excellent quick fix, I find it tastes even yummier when left to thicken for at least half an hour. I personally like to add a flash of green goodness to every meal, so I garnish with a heap of zesty corriander and a generous squeeze of fresh lime. Voilà!

Original recipe and image by Ella Woodward of Deliciously Ella. Ella's second book, Deliciously Ella Every Day: Simple recipes and fantastic food for a healthy way of life is out now and published by Yellow Kite. 

The Secrets Issue was Tamara Vos' last at Oh Comely before leaving us (sad sigh) for a career in food styling. So it seemed too tempting a chance to miss to ask her to style some of your secret ingredients. We'll be serialising the photos and recipe ideas she created with photographer Sophie Davidson during December. 

Jon Mee makes marmite korma.

Jon says, "When my girls were small they didn’t like spicy food, so we always had to have a mild korma curry. It was so bland that it needed an extra something, and Marmite was the only thing in the cupboard. It gave the curry a bit of beefy richness, an extra kick, and I’ve done it ever since. I love Marmite. I spread it on toast as thick as you would chocolate spread, and have it in every sandwich, even if it’s a tuna one. I used to make Marmite Korma every Saturday night when we rented out a film, but now everyone is grown up and I’m retired, so any night could be Marmite Korma night!"

Alice Naylor is Oh Comely's resident culinary fusspot, but in the best way. She takes casual olive picking holidays in which she climbs trees to pick the best of the batch by hand, generously bakes the most incredible cardamon buns with a whole pound of butter and endless love, and once audibly groaned with disapproval while a team member ate tinned soup.

In short, she knows what she's talking about, and here she shares her year in food with you. Prepare to drool, you lucky things. 

Bread Ahead Donuts, Borough Market, London

"These infamous Donuts had a recent 3,500 shares on Instagram.  These are my attempts below. Yeasted dough, hot fat, digital thermometer, the works … I didn’t get any shares on Instagram but my friends got to share the real thing."

Rochelle Canteen, East London

"A BYO restaurant in East London.   The restaurant has the atmosphere of a cool school canteen that doesn’t smell of cabbage. I ate a fine plate of lamb with grilled leeks and salsa Verde with my friend Paul."

Oh Comely’s 5^th birthday cake, London

"We had a wonderful afternoon with Oh Comely readers. This was my favourite cake, baked by the gorgeous Tamara Vos.  It was almost too beautiful to eat but we dived in."

Wild Asparagus frittata, Cortona, Italy

"The tall and gentle Lucco, a gardener who looks like a priest, showed us how to find wild asparagus.  It’s hidden amongst prickly bushes, and forty minutes of scrabbling amongst the undergrowth yielded only a modest handful. Lunch was hard won but worth it."

New season olive oil, Cortona, October 2015

"I help a friend pick olives every year in Cortona.  It’s backbreaking work, we pick the olives by hand. Your hair is full of dust, your arms covered in scratches and you’re so tired after eight hours in a tree, you can’t think. But we get to take the olives to the press and watch them pulverised by whirring blades to produce neon green, peppery olive oil. It’s good on the unsalted Tuscan bread with peppery salami and cheese."

All Images: Alice Naylor

The Secrets Issue was Tamara Vos' last at Oh Comely before leaving us (sad sigh) for a career in food styling. So it seemed too tempting a chance to miss to ask her to style some of your secret ingredients. We'll be serialising the photos and recipe ideas she created with photographer Sophie Davidson during December. 

A stranger introduced Tamara Vos to salted coffee.

Tamara says, "A few years ago when I was working in a cafe, I served a couple two black coffees as they sat outside sharing a cigarette. I asked if they’d like any sugar. “No, salt,” said the girl. I laughed at her joke and walked away. A few minutes later she followed me inside to ask where the salt was. It turned out she’d been quite serious, and that she and her boyfriend like to add the smallest pinch of salt to their daily coffee as it brings out the flavour, much like salt in caramel or chocolate. I have to admit that I haven’t worked up the courage to try it yet, but I love knowing that the option’s there."

The Secrets Issue was Tamara Vos' last at Oh Comely before leaving us (sad sigh) for a career in food styling. So it seemed too tempting a chance to miss to ask her to style some of your secret ingredients. We'll be serialising the photos and recipe ideas she created with photographer Sophie Davidson during December. 

Abby Chamberlain stirs horseradish into Bloody Mary.

Abby says, "I first added horseradish to my Bloody Marys when I started working at a restaurant. The chefs always have the fresh root to make horseradish cream for the roast beef on Sunday, and I started experimenting with it. I love its pungency and the sensation that if gives you, as if it’s clearing out your sinuses! I love making Bloody Marys. I like that a lot of the time, they’re ordered because someone, somewhere in the restaurant, is suffering from the night before. As well as horseradish, I add fresh lime and smoked paprika, and sometimes a bit of cayenne for a kick. And I always, always add a dash of dry fino sherry."