Spiced Crème Brûlée Tarts (Ottolenghi)

I very often use Ottolenghi's savory recipes (I love them), and the few pastry recipes I've tried have convinced me, so here is a new one from his book Sweet: spiced crème brûlée tartlets. If you don't like ginger and cardamom, a tip: avoid it, or you will need to adapt this recipe to your liking, after all, it would work just fine with only vanilla or cinnamon 😉 For me, I found the recipe very well-balanced in terms of flavor, even if I adapted it to what I had at home (ground cinnamon instead of sticks, the same for cardamom). For this recipe, you can prepare everything in advance, however, the assembly and caramelization must be done at the last moment!
 
Material:
8cm circle mold
Kitchen blowtorch
Whisk
Rolling pin
Mini angled spatula
Perforated baking sheet

Preparation time: 30 minutes + 35 minutes baking +1 night and 1 hour minimum resting
For 10 tartlets of 8cm:

 The spice infusion:

 560g of heavy cream
 45g of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped/grated
 7 cardamom pods, crushed to recover the seeds
 3 cinnamon sticks, cut in half
 1 English Breakfast tea bag
 3 bay leaves
 A few black peppercorns
 1 nutmeg
 65g of granulated sugar
 
 In a saucepan, pour all the ingredients. Heat, then turn off at the first boil. Let it cool, then wrap the saucepan and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
 
 

 
 Shortcrust pastry:

 I used leftover sweet pastry I had, but I give you Ottolenghi's shortcrust pastry recipe below:

 200g of flour
 120g of unsalted butter, cubed and very cold
 30g of granulated sugar
 A pinch of salt
 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar
 3 tablespoons of cold water
 
 Mix the flour and sugar with the cold butter to obtain a sandy texture. Add the salt, then the white vinegar and cold water little by little to form a dough ball. Wrap it and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Then roll it out to a maximum thickness of 2mm and line your greased tartlet rings.
 
 

 
 Place them back in the refrigerator for another 2 to 3 hours, then bake them in the preheated oven at 180°C for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden. Let cool.
 
 Spiced crème brûlée:

 165g of egg yolks
 The spiced cream infusion
 
 Reheat the infused cream, then strain it to remove the spices. Pour it over the egg yolks, whisking constantly.
 
 

 
 Pour the cream into a 25x20cm glass dish itself placed in a larger dish.
 
 

 
 Pour boiling water into the larger dish to create a bain-marie, then bake everything in the preheated oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes (the cream should be set on the sides but still wobbly in the center). Remove the dish containing the cream from the bain-marie, then let cool before placing it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
 
 

 
 Assembly:

 Granulated sugar for caramelization
 
 When ready to serve (not before, or your tartlets will soften), fill your tartlet shells with the cream up to the rim, then smooth the surface. 
 
 

 
 Sprinkle with granulated sugar, then caramelize them using a blowtorch and enjoy immediately!