30’ preparation, 30’ baking.

Ingredients

• 200 g shortcrust pastry (0.45 lb)
• A can of sliced pineapple
• 50 cl whole milk (17 ozfl)
• 4 egg-yolks
• 125 g sugar (4.4 oz)
• 60 g plain flour (2.1 oz) (non-raising)
• rum (Bundaberg’s!)

Preparation

Preheat your oven at 200 C (400 F).
Place the pastry in a greased oven pan, making sure there’s no air between the bottom and the pastry.
Meanwhile, bring the milk to a boil.  I can only advise you to keep on eye on it.
Meanwhile still, in a pâtisserie metal bowl, mix the yolks and the sugar until white.
Put the pan with the pastry into the oven after having covered the former with ceramic balls or raw beans to prevent bubbling.
Add the boiling milk, flour and rum.   (You can avoid the milk to stain the pan bottom by adding a bit of water before you pour the milk)
Cook back slowly for a minute or two, stirring uninterruptedly.  Those who know the making of vanilla custard are already familiar with the method.
Once pre-baked, get your pan out of the oven, and prepare it to accept the pineapple slices at the bottom, in a regular pattern.
Pour the mix over gently, and put the pan back into the oven for about 30 minutes at 200 C (400 F).
As usual, you can tell if a cake is baked when a knife blade gets out of it unstained (or by dew only).
After baking, always leave the oven door open, and you may take the cake out if it’s already dry.

Variant

The principle of pouring a floured vanilla custard over a bed of fruit, pastryless or not, is a general one, that you can use with other kinds of fruit, as long as they’re soft and juicy.
e.g.  pitted cherries or mangoes.