Nutter Butter

One of the challenges in making pie wherein custard is the star, is simply striking the right balance between the richness of the custard and the thickness and consistency of the crust. This recipe is a great one to try if you are making a fruit and custard tart.

BONUS: Adding nuts is also a great way to lower (slightly) carbs if you are cooking for people who care about that shit. They probably won't want custard though either. In the case of these kinds of guests, fill the pie with sausage. Anyway...

Almond Pie Crust from Chef de Cuisine - makes one 9 inch pie crust

3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chilled butter
1 tablespoon cold water

For this you really want to use a food processor or you will spend all your time trying to get the nuts to break down uniformly.

Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees.
Blend first 4 ingredients in food processor until nuts are finely ground.

Cut butter into pieces and add to flour mixture. Process until it resembles coarse meal.

Add enough water and blend until dough clumps together. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface and transfer to tart pan with removable bottom. This last bit is important as this particular crust is not as sturdy as other all flour-and-fat one. Freeze crust in tart pan for about 30 minutes.

Pre-bake crust for about 15 minutes. Cool, Reduce oven to 325 degrees. Bake crust until lightly brown.

Spoon vanilla custard in bottom of crust, cover with fresh fruit, and glaze.

As the Teen Girl Squad would say "SOOoooOOO GOOD!"