Chinese Custard Tarts

Chinese Dessert Recipes

Tart Shell 3 c. flour 6 Tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. salt 8 Tbsp. butter (1/4 lb., 1 stick) 4 Tbsp. shortening 4 Tbsp. water Custard Filling 4 eggs 1/2 c. sugar 1 1/2 c. milk 1/2 tsp. nutmeg dash cardamom 1/2 tsp. ginger

A not-too-sweet Chinese dessert. Makes about 2 dozen. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the shortening and butter into small pieces. Work the shortening and butter into the flour using a pastry blender or fork. When it resembles coarse meal, add the water. Once the water is worked in, the dough should start to hang together in a ball. If it's super crumbly and won't stay together, add a little more water. If it's sticky, add a little more flour. Cover the dough and set aside in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, or while you prepare the custard. In a medium bowl, beat eggs with sugar. Add milk and stir well. Add nutmeg, cardamom, and ginger. Stir to combine. Form the dough into tarts: Preheat the oven to 300°F. Spray either a tart pan or a muffin tin with nonstick spray. This recipe makes about 2 dozen tarts. Take a small amount of dough from the large ball and form it into a ball, about the size of a golf ball. Press the ball between your palms to form a disk. Press the disk into the muffin tin or tart form. If holes develop, add a pinch more dough and work it together. Repeat to fill all the forms in your baking pan. When the dough is shaped, give the egg custard mixture a good stir. Then use a small ladle to ladle custard into each tart. Carefully place the pan in the oven. Bake at 300°F for 30 min. or until set. (Note - tops will not dry out or pull away from the sides. A done custard still looks shiny, so jostle the pan to see if the tops are set.) If you're making "mini tarts" 15 minutes ought to do it. If you end up with a "custard imbalance" - in other words, custard mixture left after all the tart shells have been filled - spray a ramekin with nonstick spray and bake the custard without the shell.

Submitted by Gretchen Grant
Contributed on: Monday May 14th, 2007 and modified on Wednesday May 16th, 2007