HONG KONG STYLE EGG TART ( 蛋撻 )

The egg tart or egg custard tart ( commonly romanized as dan ta / 蛋撻 ) is a pastry commonly found in Hong Kong and other Asian countries, which consists of an outer pastry crust that is filled with egg custard and baked.

I got these 12 mini tart pan from a friend name Julie Tan and her company, Brown Cookie been selling all kind of baking utensils. I loved these mini tart pan because they baked very evenly and very easy to released. If you want to bake these tarts and need those mini tart pans....I highly recommend that you can get from Brown Cookie.

Today, egg tarts come in many variations within Hong Kong cuisine, including egg white, milk , honey-egg, ginger-flavored egg, which are variations of a traditional milk custard and egg custard served in cha chaan tengs, and also chocolate tarts, green-tea-flavoured tarts, and even bird nest tarts.

Overall, Hong Kong egg tarts have two main types of crusts: shortcrust pastry and puff pastry pastry, traditionally made with lard rather than butter or shortening. Most Hong Kong Chinese food purists hold the egg tarts made with puff pastry in higher regard.

My recipe will make about 24 egg tarts

INGREDIENTS :

For the Crust:

450 g All Purpose flour

250 g unsalted butter, at room temperature

110 g powdered sugar

2 eggs, whisked

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

METHODS :

1. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer over medium speed until the mixture is smooth, fluffy and light in color.

2. Add in the whisked egg, half at a time and beat over low speed. Then add in the vanilla extract.

3. Sieve the flour and mixed it with the salt. Then add the flour into the egg mixture in 3 batches. scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions with a spatula until well combined.

4. Knead the dough and make it into a rectangle shape, wrapped it with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 400 degree F. Take the dough from the refrigerator and roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness and use the top part ( measured 3-inches ) of the tart pan to cut the shape. Then press firmly into the tart pan to cover evenly. Continue with the rest of the tart pans and put them on a baking sheet. Set aside.

For the Custard Filling:

210 g granulated sugar

480 g water

6 eggs plus 3 egg yolks

90 ml evaporated milk

1 1/2 tbsp custard powder

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

METHODS :

1. Add the sugar and water into a saucepan and cook until melted. Set aside to slightly warm.

2. In a bowl, slowly add the evaporated milk into the custard powder and whisked until well combined. Then whisked in the eggs.

3. Pour in the sugar syrup into the egg mixture and whisked until well combined. Strained the egg mixture and then add the vanilla extract.

4. Slowly pour the egg mixture into each prepared tart pans and bake for at least 20-25 minutes.

5. While baking about 10-15 minutes, check the oven for the custard been puffed. Once you see the custard been puffed a little, open the oven door slightly about 2-3 inches. Continue baking until the time is end.

6. After baking, let the tarts sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove the egg tart slowly from the tart pan and served.