Welcome to 2022! Happy new year to everyone reading this blog post!
For the first post of the new year, I’ve decided to feature the traditional Chinese egg tarts – the classic pastry that many Chinese love to eat for breakfast or as a snack; for gifting in festive seasons or during birthday celebrations. The colour of this pastry is bright, with a golden crust and an almost golden colour custard filling. They look like edible sunflowers from afar, and they taste lovely. Nothing too complicated to create and the whole presentation in itself is simple, convincing, sincere and makes the recipients happy.
With this recipe, I wish to bring with me the same principles into the new year too – to have a simple life that’s true to my heart, one that’s convincing and worth living and one that keeps everyone happy. I hope for nothing complicated really, just me and my baking and cooking experiments, me and my family, and me and a simple, stress-free and meaningful job. There’s going to be some efforts required of course, just like how it takes more than one step to make both the crust and the custard before things can come together nicely. But with effort comes results, and I hope that I can take these right steps in life too to get where I want to be.
Looking forward to a great year ahead and hopefully, we can all have the chance to finally mask down to smile at each other again soon.
Enjoy the egg tarts in the meantime!
Ingredients:
- Cake flour: 200g
- Salt: a pinch
- Icing sugar: 40g
- Unsalted butter: 115g, cubed and softened at room temperature
- Egg: 4, beaten
- White sugar: 5 tbsp
- Hot water: 180ml
- Evaporated milk: 60ml
- Vanilla extract: a dash
Method:
- Sift cake flour, salt and icing sugar into mixing bowl.
- Knead butter into flour mixture.
- Scoop 2 tbsp beaten egg into dough to combine.
- Wrap in cling film and chill in fridge for 30min till firm.
- Dissolve sugar and a pinch of salt in hot water. Leave to cool.
- Whisk in remaining beaten egg, evaporated milk & vanilla extract.
- Strain & leave to chill in fridge.
- Preheat oven at 200 degrees Celsius.
- Divide dough into 10 portions. Roll each portion into a ball.
- Press the ball into the greased egg tart moulds to form the shells.
- Pour chilled custard into each shell, about 80% full each.
- Bake 15min till crust becomes golden brown.
Disclaimer:
As I did not want to spend money buying egg tart moulds, I decided to stick to the muffin trays that I already have. That’s why the tarts look slightly larger, without the lines at the exterior of the shells.
Serving:
Makes 9 – 10 medium sized tarts or 16 small tarts
