Hong Kong Egg Tart

Hong Kong egg tart can be found easily in bakeries especially in chinese bakeries and Dim Sum restaurants.
Hong Kong egg tarts differs from Portugese tart which the later have a scorched, caramelized filling whereas the Hong Kong egg tart known for their smooth and shiny custard. Buttery pastry crust filled with sweet,smooth egg custard is sure a winner.

The aroma of freshly baked egg tart filled my kitchen and when i took the first bite, that's it...i'm in heaven. The soft egg custard melt in my mouth and the cookie dough pastry compliment the tart very well. Match made in heaven i should say. My nephew loves egg tarts. He could finish a dozen of it in one go and this egg tart is his favourite. He loves the crumble pastry crust and the smooth texture of the custard. This guy really knows his egg tart well



Ingredients

For Pastry Crust

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup butter
1 egg yolk
1/2 egg white
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp butter(to grease the tart shells)


For Custard

3/4 cup confectioners/icing sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
2 large eggs
1/3 cup hot water
1/2 cup fresh milk
Pinch of salt

For Pastry

Preheat oven at 350'F or 180' Cel and place the baking rack in the middle of the oven.

Grease the tart shells with butter, making sure every corner and sides are well greased

Using a hand or stand mixer, beat butter,confectioners sugar,egg yolk and egg white.

Add in flour and beat till well combined. Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and knead for 1 minute. Do not over knead the dough. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in a clingwrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes

Remove the dough from fridge and divide the dough into 6 equal portion. Approximately 38 grams each. Roll the dough into a ball and press to fit the prepared tart cases from bottom to the sides. Arrange the tart shells on a baking tray and chill the pastries in the fridge for another 30 minutes

For Custard

In a clean bowl, mix sugar with hot water. Stir well till the sugar dissolved and set aside to cool

In a large bowl, whisk together milk,eggs,vanilla essence and salt. Pour in the sugar water and mix well.

Strain the egg mixture with fine strainer to get a smooth custard.

Fill the chilled pastry crust with the custard and bake for 23-25 minutes or till the custard set and the pastry turns golden.

Cool it on wire rack for a couple of minutes

Enjoy warm with a cup of tea



Notes

• Its important when you fill your pastry crust with custard no bubbles form in the surface to get a smooth, glassy finishing. Just poke off the bubbles using a fork.

• Do not over bake the tarts. The perfectly baked tarts is when the custard in the centre wobbles slightly