Since its a family favorite and really quite expensive in the local market, (and yah.. i love baking!), I decided to undergo a series of trials and errors just to achieve the perfect egg tart recipe! After numerous eggs, oil, butter, milk, flour and sugar (yah, those are the only ingredients), I've finally rest my case!
I have allotted quite some time in researching and came up with 3 basic recipes for the egg tarts filling and 2 for the crust.
for the custard filling:
1.) the use of fresh/ whole milk, water, eggs and sugar
2.) the use of evaporated milk, condensed milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla
3.) the use of fresh/ whole milk, eggs and sugar.
for the crust:
1.) the use of sweet pie crust
2.) the use of butter crust
Well, I'm a big fan of the HK style egg tarts and so that's what i googled first and found number 1 custard filling plus number 2 crust recipe.
The second custard filling recipe is what most Filipinos use. (same ingredients used for leche flan) and
The third custard filling recipe is what most Western people use.
And as I said, I'm a fan of the HK style, and so i tried it's proposed recipe. The verdict? Well, to start, it wasn't close to how the real thing tasted and just to be sure, I even bought a Lord Stow's egg tart in Mall of Asia. Nothing really quite like the original.
Well, taste wise, it was tasty, however, I'm not a fan of the texture. It was really Jello-like, perhaps due to the generous amount of water used. I can't say everyone wouldn't like it, but then again, it wasn't close to the real thing.
Then i tried the second recipe. Every Filipino is a fan of leche flan and I think everyone base their idea of something eggy as related to it. It was a Filipino's ultimate desseart. It could be the reason why they would adapt the flan recipe to their tarts. The verdict...
It was really delicious! Just imagine adding a buttery crust under a flan and that's it. It was creamy and quite sweet. The texture was to die for, but then, it still isn't quite close to the real thing. Even though it was delicious, let us just leave the flan to itself.
The third recipe: It resulted to a cross between a creamy yet jello-like texture. It was great! It wasn't too sweet and the texture was just right. I dare say its close enough to the tart of my choice but not quite.
So, now I found the ingredients for the right texture, then I tried something, Instead of using fresh milk, I used canned evaporated milk and I added a few drops of vanilla extract. It was better! It made the tart tastier and creamier! I was really happy with the output, but still, not the same as what I'm looking for. I rest my case. I'm satisfied with my recipe. My friends and family loved it.
As for the crust, both recipes were perfect partners to the filling, but if I had to choose one, I prefer the butter crust. Well, its better because it is flaky, buttery and mildly sweet. However, the sweet pie crust recipe also have an advantage: It is sturdier.
And so here's the final recipe I'd like to share! :)
Makes 9 tarts, well it depends. I'm using a 2 inch tart tin each
Let's make the Crust first:
Crust:
1 cup flour1/4 cup butter (room temperature, not melted)2 tbps sugar (granulated or caster will do)
1/4 tsp salt, omit if using salted butter
some 2-4 tbsp oil.
*The reason why I added some oil is because the real recipe called for 1/2 cup of butter. In my opinion, using 1/2 cup butter with just 1 cup of flour is too much. Too buttery for my taste, 1/4 was really enough, but hey, we've got diffrent taste buds. So, the oil was just a substitute for the lessened butter.*
Step 1: Remember to clean your counter before you work on you dough. haha :) Preheat oven at 350 F
Step 2: Using a pastry blender, food processor or your hand ( I just use my hands ), mix all the ingredients until well incorporated. You will end up with something like this if you follow my recipe of using 1/4 cup butter. *As you can see, You'll end up with a crumbly mess, and so here comes the oil... :)
Step 3: Add oil a tablespoon at a time until you form a ball of dough
and Huwala, once you have a dough, you're ready to mold it into your tart tins.
I use these 2 inch tart tins:
Remember to wash and clean them well before using. :)
Just a reminder!
This crust recipe is really flaky, and crumbly as well. It is not stable at all. Once you've baked them, they'll fall apart in crumbs so don't try to remove them without the filling yet. :) Also, even with the filling, they'll be really hard to remove. :( To solve this dilemma, I used cupcake sheets as liners. If you use the sweet pie crust recipe, removing it from the tins would be a sweat free task since, as I said earlier, it is sturdier and would come out easily when picked up.
Step 4: Once done molding every tin, place them in the freezer for about 15 mins to harden up. This way, it will not puff as much. Otherwise, you'll end up with lesser space for the custard filling when the crust puffs. Trust me, I ended up with just a crusty egg tart, my friends called it Crust tart. You wouldn't want that right? So don't forget to freeze 'em up. :)
Step 5: Once the oven's temperature is right, pop the frozen crust in the oven and bake for around 10 mins or until slightly golden brown.
Once it's done baking, you'll see that it did puff a little bit, but not as much as when it not frozen. I want more filing so, I create more space. I press the crust gently using a spoon so as to compress it. Be careful with the pressure, you wouldn't want to crack it..
Done. and now for the filling.
Filling:
1 cup canned evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
Some additional info:
3 large eggs
optional: 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Step 1: Mix all ingredients together until well blended.
Step 2: Strain the mixture to remove the clumps.
Step 3: Pour into individual pans.
Step 4: Bake for around 15 mins. You'll know its done with the custard's top layer starts to inflate.
Remove the tart gently when totally cool.
Some additional info:
Well, earlier, I wrote that I put cupcake sheets on every tin before molding the crust because it would be difficult to remove.
here's some example:
It was really hard to removes thus ending up with ruined edges :(
Well, there you go. Now you can enjoy great tasting egg tarts without having to spend so much.
They are really easy to do! It'll take you around 1 1/2 hour only!
Good luck!
xoxo,
Stepp
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