How to make the best custard squares in New Zealand

From the first velvety, creamy bite, it's clear Piccolo Morso's custard square is no ordinary quadrangular sweet treat. With firm, smooth custard, hand-piped icing and the passion-fruit filling, it verges on perfection.

And that's what the judges at Baking New Zealand's Great Square off thought too, when awarding the New Plymouth bakery first equal at the Custard Square Championship, alongside Hamilton's Volare artisan bread shop.

The lunchtime queue is out the door when RNZ visits Piccolo Morso and there was just one item on customers' mind - you guessed it - the custard square.

Co-owner Julia Kaur-Randhawa said that had led to some amusing situations at the checkout.

"There's been a lot of laughter as people order the same as the person in front of them who's ordered the same as the person in front of them, but it's quite cool to see so many people from our community coming out to support us."

She explained making the perfect custard square was an involved process.

"First we bake off our custard sheets which is puff pastry that we which we dock - make little holes in it - we use a docker and roll holes into both sides of the pastry and we bake that off.

"Then we boil the custard in a separate pot and sandwich them together and weigh it down and chill it - overnight is best - and then we ice, cut and decorate it the next day."

The 27-year-old, who did her apprenticeship at Piccolo Morso, bought the business three years ago with her husband Kamal Singh - when their first child was only three months old.

"Luckily we don't live too far away."

She said it was the little things that made a difference to a custard square.

"We really pay attention to the small details. We hand-pipe every single one of them. We use real vanilla bean paste rather than imitation essence. It's the small details and caring about that."

A third-generation baker, Kaur-Randhawa said the Piccolo Morso custard square had elements of the French mille feuilles about it.

"I think it is a really nice mix of the continental fluffy-styled custard square, which is often done with a cold processed custard, and the classic kiwi custard square that is the jelly, yellow rubbery one.

"We have a method that is more similar to how you'd make the rubbery yellow one, but we use so much cream and milk in it, that it has a texture that is more similar to the continental one while still holding it's shape."

Customers certainly appear to like it.

"It's been absolutely hectic. We've been selling out of two weeks of custard squares before lunch everyday the last four days.

"We've done over 1000 pieces, 20 something slabs. When we'd normally do two maybe three [slabs] a week, and that's just in four days."

Bakery manager Terri Clarke only returned to Piccolo Morso last week after a stint away.

"It's craziness. I mean honestly the workload's come up and it was already a bit up there and now it's more and we are just pushing through doing long days, long hours.

"It's worth it though. I love baking and somehow I just keep coming back to this place."

Clarke said the Piccolo Morso's famous custard squares lived up to the hype.

"Oh hell yeah, of course they do. They're beautiful. I love them. What's not to love about nice flakey pastry with a good custard, you know.

"And it's all about everything and the little bit of real sweetness from the icing on top and that bite where you get everything and you get the perfect flavour, yeah."

You'd get no argument from customer Philippa Owen on that count.

"Ummm ... yum. I'd absolutely recommend these. Gooey, sweet, more-ish. Beautiful."

Che Rogers wasn't so sure.

"Yeah, that's pretty good. The passion fruit works well with the custard. I'll just have another try. Yeah, I don't know, maybe there's a bit too much icing for my liking."

The were no such issues for your humble correspondent.

"Well they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so let's dive in. Oh yeah, it's so creamy and I'm getting that hint of vanilla there. It's simply gorgeous."

If being a champion custard square maker wasn't enough, earlier this year Piccolo Morso won best sausage roll in Taranaki and last year its vegan korma pie was judged best in its category in a national pie-making competition.

Kaur-Randhawa hoped her success would motivate more small bakers to enter national competitions and encourage young people to think of trades - such as baking - as careers with prospects.

"With an apprenticeship you've got the opportunity of earning while you're learning and it's still a four to six year apprenticeship, so it's not just a polytech course.

"And the demand for baking is still very much there... you still need people to fix your cars, build houses, bake bread."