HK Egg Tarts [dan tat] 蛋挞

Yay! I've finally got to making and somewhat perfecting my dan tat recipe. The recipe was copied down by hand by Mom from a friend, but I've tweaked it a little bit. Be warned, this recipe makes the cookie crust dough, because the pastry flake crust is a lot more labor intensive and harder to make! But I personally love the cookie crust..and I cut down the sugar on the custard because we all don't need that much sugar anyways. I'm used to the dan tat being super sweet when you buy them at bakeries, so this may take a little adjusting.

For the pan, I used a cupcake pan because I left all my tart molds at my apartment. But you can always use a cupcake pan, for the DEEP DISH experience!

For the best results, it is best to make the dough the night before, refrigerate it, and then make the custard filling the day you want the tarts to be baked. When you are ready to bake them, take the shells out of the fridge and pour the custard immediately into the cold dough. Then stick it in the oven!



































































INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tbls of powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten
2-4 tbls of iced water
FILLING:
3/4 cup white sugar (Add more if you like a sweeter custard)
3/4 cups water
7 eggs, beaten [ 5 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks]
1 dash vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork until it is in small crumbs. Stir in the egg and water until the mixture forms a dough. The texture should be slightly moist. Shape dough into 2 tbls balls, and press the balls between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and flatten into a large circle. Then press into cupcake pan [for deep dish] or tart molds so that it covers the bottom, and goes up higher than the sides. Use 2 fingers to shape the edge into an A shape.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (230 degrees C). Combine the white sugar and water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Strain the eggs through a sieve, and whisk into the sugar mixture. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Strain the filling through a sieve, and fill the tart shells just to the brim [but not so that it will spill over]

3. Bake for 5 minutes in the preheated oven at 400 F and then lower the oven to 350 for another 15 min or so, until golden brown, and the filling is puffed up a little bit. You can tell when its done if the center isn't wobbly and when you touch the custard it's firm.