Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat well.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat until a fine breadcrumb consistency. Then using your hands form the crumbly mixture into firm dough.

Press into a 23x3cm deep (9.1 x1.2in) round pie dish, spreading the pastry up the sides so that it is even all over. This quantity is the perfect amount for this size pie dish if you like a thick pastry base. For a thinner base, dont use all the pastry. If you would rather make individual small tarts you can use muffin or cup cake trays. Once the pastry is evenly distributed, prick it with a fork all over the base, and bake at 180°C until light brown. This should take about 10 – 15 minutes depending on the size of your tarts and your oven temperature, so watch them closely. The longer the pastry bakes, the crisper it will become

Place the cinnamon stick in the milk and bring to the boil gently and making sure not to burn the bottom of the pot – as the taste of burnt milk will ruin the delicate flavor of the filling. Remove the cinnamon stick .

Beat eggs in a bowl and add the sugar, flour, cornflour and salt, mixing well.

Once the milk has come to the boil, pour it into the egg and flour mixture and stir well.

Return this to the stove and whisk gently but constantly until the mixture thickens. You don’t want any lumps in your filling so be prepared to stand over this mixture until it has boiled and thickened properly.

Add butter and vanilla essence and mix well.

Pour into cooked shell. The tart is not baked again, it sets in the fridge.

Allow to cool on a shelf until it is room temperature and then transfer the tart to the fridge.

It will take a few hours for the mixture to cool, and set properly. Once cooled sprinkle with cinnamon.