Hong Kong-styled Egg Custard Tarts

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HK egg custard tarts have been a classic in the dim sum ritual. Although the Hong Kong-styled egg custard tarts share some resemblance to the British egg custard tarts or the Portugese pasteis de nata, they are not entirely the same in terms of filling and pastry texture.  For example, British egg custard tarts have nutmeg, the Portugese version has cinnamon whereas the Hong Kong ones have neither. The pastry dough is also layered and flaky, unlike the others which are more like a short-crust pastry texture. 


Prep time 60 mins  Cooking time 20 mins

INGREDIENTS (20 tarts):

Filling

3 eggs, beaten 

120 g castor sugar 

100 ml full-fat milk 

200 ml lukewarm water 

1 tsp vanilla essence 

Water dough

150 g all-purpose flour, sifted 

20 g custard powder, sifted 

30 g icing sugar, sifted 

60 g shortening 

2 Tbsps iced cold water 

Oil dough

90 g all-purpose flour, sifted 

60 g butter, cubed 


METHOD:

1) Mix all the ingredients together for the water dough, adding the iced cold water a tablespoon at a time to avoid it being too wet until all the ingredients are incorporated to form a dough;

2) Mix the ingredients for the oil dough. Wrap it in a clingfilm, then press it into a square shape. In humid weather, you can chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes first before going onto the next step; 

3) Dust the work surface with flour and roll out the water dough into a large rectangle shape making sure that there is room to enclose the square-shaped oil dough within it, then seal it by folding the sides in;

4) Flatten and roll out the combined dough into a larger piece. Fold one end of this dough to the center and then fold the other end over the top so it is folded in thirds. Turn it 90 degrees, flatten and roll it again into a rectangle shape. Repeat the folding into thirds and turning process twice; 

5) On the last time, roll it into a rectangle shape, fold the top and bottom ends to the center so the two ends meet without overlapping and fold over again (fold into fours). Flatten, roll out and repeat the folding process once more before refrigerating for 20 minutes; 

6) While the dough is getting refrigerated, make the filling by dissolving the sugar in the lukewarm water (preferably in a jug for easy transfer into the tart tins later). Stir in the milk, vanilla essence and beaten eggs; 

7) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. 

8) Roll the dough out into 5mm thickness and use a fluted cutter that is slightly bigger than the mini tart tins to cut the dough. Any recess, roll it back into a dough ball, flatten and cut again; 

9) Press the dough circles carefully into the mini tins, then place them in a shallow baking tray; 

10) Pour the custard filling into the pastry until they are 3/4 full and bake at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes;

11) Cool them on a rack for 10 minutes before serving.

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