Tarts

I started out trying to make other flavors of egg tarts and now I’m addicted. Here are some matcha caramel ones that are super yummy! The shortcrust is adapted from The Kitchn and the custard is adapted from Guai Shu Shu.

1. Pâte Sablée: (about 20 2.5in tarts)

• 168 g butter (1.5 stick), room temp
• 63 g powdered sugar
• 1.5 large egg yolk
• 4 g salt
• 213 g all purpose flour

1. Beat butter and sugar until creamy.
2. Beat in egg yolk.
3. Add flour and salt. Mix on low speed and don’t overmix.
4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hr.
5. Let soften on counter.
6. Preheat oven to 360F. Roll out to circle between two sheets of wax paper.
7. Cut out circles and transfer to tart pan/ rings.
8. If dough is soft, chill in fridge or freezer for a few minutes.
9. Dock the crust with a fork and bake for 10 - 15 minutes. Flatten crust once it’s out of the oven. You want to half - 3/4 bake it, so if too light, bake for a little longer.

2. Caramel (dry) Sauce:

Tarts are quite delicious so I wanted to pair something with matcha. It takes quite a while, so just a heads up! The rich shortcrust is adapted from The Kitchn. I don’t remember where the other recipes originally came from. I’ve been adapting them each iteration. This recipe is for about 7-8 3in tarts.

1. Rich Shortcrust Pastry:

• 224 g butter (2 sticks), room temp
• 84 g powdered sugar
• 2 large egg yolk
• 6 g salt (1/2 tsp)
• 142 g all purpose flour
• 20 g milk, if needed

1. Beat butter and sugar until creamy.
2. Beat in egg yolks.
3. Add flour and salt, while mixing at low speed. Don’t overmix. If it looks dry, add some milk.
4. Chill dough in plastic wrap for at least 1 hour in the fridge. I did overnight.
5. Let soften on counter. Once soft, fraction into smaller pieces. Roll out between two sheets of wax paper.
6. Cut out circles and fit to tart molds/ rings. For my tart rings, I did two separate cut outs. One circle for the base and one strip of dough for the side.
7. Use a fork to make lots of holes in the base and then chill for 30 minutes or so. Preheat the oven to 375F.
8. Bake for about 40 minutes. Check in on them around the 30 min mark.

2. Matcha Coconut Cream:

This was my second attempt at tart making. The meringue I made was from an Andy Bowdy recipe, but since I scaled it down drastically, the sugar didn’t completely disolve and was weird. In the recipe below, I’ll correct for that.
The pâte sablée receipe is from The Kitchn. For the cream, I added some coconut cream to to see how it’d behave. Wasn’t too bad, but the butter taste was still prominent. The receipe has been through two iterations and is derived from a Kitchenlicious recipe (though it does a passionfruit cream–> instead of puree, I used cream and reduce butter).
NOTE: this recipe is only for about four - five 4.5 in tarts. Alternatively, you can make a single, larger 8-9in tart.

I make tarts a lot and prefer a sweet shortcrust. The recipe I use is from The Kitchn. For fruity things, I usually make a curd, which I adapted from Loko Kitchen. And then I often make egg tart custards, which I adapted from Guai Shu Shu. The fillings can be super customized to fit whatever flavor you want. Also, the crust works perfectly fine using a gluten-free all purpose flour. Just bake a little longer.