Egg tart is one of the Hong Kong classic. Everyone in Hong Kong loves egg tart. They like to eat it for breakfast, brunch as dim sum or tea time snack. An egg tart is a baked egg custard in a pastry. There are mainly 2 types of egg tarts. One with a shortcrust pastry and the other with a puff pastry. This recipe is the shortcrust one. I personally love this crust the most. It is buttery with a hint of savory, which is perfect with the smooth and lightly sweetened egg custard. Whenever I am baking these little egg tarts at home, the house just smells incredible. It is hard to eat only one. Maybe, I can sneak in two in my stomach before anyone found out.
Egg Tarts (Adapted from Homemade Tea Restaurant Signature Dishes)
7 tarts
Required tools:
– 7 (3-inch wide, 1 ½-inch deep) tart tins
Ingredients:
Egg Custard:
– 2 large eggs (room temperature)
– 45g sugar
– 40g evaporated milk
– 145ml water
Pastry Crust:
– 115g cake flour (sifted)
– 70g butter (room temperature)
– 20g powdered sugar
– 10g evaporated milk
– ½ large egg yolk (room temperature)
Directions:
- For the pastry crust, in a large mixing bowl with an electronic mixer, beat the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add ½ egg yolk and mix together. Add the evaporated milk and beat well. Slowly add the flour. Mix until the dough starts to come together. Form the dough into a round disk with hands. Wrap it in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
- Meanwhile, for the egg custard, in a small saucepan over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium, add the sugar and cook until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and let it cool completely.
- Back to the crust, divide the dough into 7 portions. Roll each portion into a round ball. Flatten each ball into flat disks with hands. Place a flat disk into a tart tin and mold the dough into a tart shape. The dough should be about a ¼-inch below the top of the tart tin edge. Poke at few holes at the bottom of the tart with a fork. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, beat 2 eggs with a hand whisk. Add evaporated milk and beat until combined. Stir in the syrup. Strain the mixture and remove bubbles with a spoon.
- Line the prepared tart tins on a baking sheet. Fill the tarts 80% full with the egg mixture. Bake for 18 – 22 minutes until the egg custard is puffed up a little, and the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 5 – 10 minutes. Tap the tart tin bottom lightly on the table. Turn the tart tin over and remove the egg tarts carefully. Serve immediately for best taste.
- For storage, let the egg tarts cool completely. Put them in a plastic container for up to 2 days. Eat at room temperature or bake in a 300˚F pre-heated oven for 5 minutes.
Tips:
- When molding the dough into the tart tins, remember not to make the tart side too thin. If not, the egg tart will break very easily when finished.
- If you prefer a thicker crust, you can make 6 tarts with the same amount of dough.
- Try to remove all bubbles in the egg mixture before baking.
- During baking, keep an eye out for the egg tarts for the last 5 minutes. Some of them may finish earlier than the others.
Source: Read
purabinaha says
March 13, 2012 at 9:28 amThis sounds like something I must try! The photograph is stunning too!! Saving the recipe. http://cosmopolitancurrymania.blogspot.com
Lokness says
March 13, 2012 at 9:36 amThank you. Please give this a try! It is delicious!
miaow says
March 13, 2012 at 9:43 am;beautiful egg tarts, which still look gooey inside – yums!
Lokness says
March 13, 2012 at 10:16 amYes, the custard is smooth and soft. And they are so easy to make!
Eva @ Eva Bakes says
March 29, 2012 at 11:49 amI love egg tarts – yours turned out beautifully!
Lokness says
March 29, 2012 at 11:56 amThanks for your sweet comment. I love egg tarts too! Since I live far away from Chinatown or any Chinese bakery, making my own seems to be the easiest solution. They were fresh out of the oven and delicious.
Isabel and Willi says
August 5, 2012 at 12:37 amegg tart is one of my hk foods favorite! gonna make it now 🙂
Lokness says
August 5, 2012 at 9:15 amMe too! It is something that I always crave for. Enjoy your egg tarts! Let me how they turned out. Have a wonderful weekend!
Monica says
October 18, 2013 at 11:11 amOh, how did I miss this one! Being from HK myself, I love egg tarts so much! I’ve wanted to make my own and have a couple of recipes on file but still haven’t…I need the tart tins! : ) Yours looks amazing and I like this recipe with the evaporated milk in the filling. Funny enough, Serious Eats posted a recipe for it yesterday and a couple of people are not happy with the cookie crust. I’m with you – I prefer that over the flaky! I’m going to pin this!
Lokness says
October 18, 2013 at 11:33 amI actually saw that post too, but didn’t read the comments. But yea, shortbread crust is much better. Feel less greasy. These egg tarts are pretty spot on. I hope they would bring you back some good memories. Enjoy!
Monica says
October 18, 2013 at 5:22 pmSorry to bother you but did you by any chance buy your tart tins online? If so, I’d love to know…otherwise, I’ll continue my search, which has thus far been rather random. I have mini tart tins but they are not deep enough. Thank you!
Lokness says
October 18, 2013 at 5:44 pmNo problem. I am more than happy to help. I got mine from Bed Bath and Beyond. I have also seen them in professional chef stores. It looks like Amazon also carry them, but not cheap. (http://amzn.to/1bGLx0t) Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Monica says
October 18, 2013 at 6:24 pmThanks! Great idea about BB&B! I hadn’t thought of that but makes sense – I’ve been going there because the one near me has a “world market” section and they have all sorts of international foods there. I will check it out one day soon. Egg tarts are definitely something I’d love to try for myself but I’m able to buy some pretty easily so that’s one deterrent. I’m also afraid I won’t be able to control myself around them. : ) Thanks again!
Lokness says
October 18, 2013 at 6:29 pmYou are very welcome. Lucky you! I need to drive at least 30 mins to get some egg tarts, so making them myself seems to be easier. Have a good weekend!
Monica says
January 27, 2014 at 9:03 amHi again Lokness – just wanted to tell you I finally took the plunge and made these over the weekend. I made a couple of mistakes but all’s well that ends well. They were delicious and I’m so happy I finally did it! I’ll be posting about them tomorrow. Thank you for all your help!! Happy upcoming Chinese New Year!