Egg Custard Tarts
This is a traditional Chinese dessert, found in dim-sum and Chinese bakeries.
For this recipe, I found a custard tart recipe on the net, altered the custard
filling ingredients and used my own pastry recipe.
Pastry:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup lard
7 tbsp (approx) cold water
Custard Filling:
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup half and half
1 tsp vanilla
To make pastry, stir together flour, sugar and salt. Cut in lard. Mix in the water until mixture holds together. Roll out thinly and cut into 2-1/2-inch rounds. Press into small muffin trays (should be around 24 tarts).
Ensure that all custard ingredients are at room temperature (if they're not, beat ingredients over a bowl of warm water). To make custard, beat together eggs and yolks. Beat in sugar, then milk, half and half, and vanilla. Let rest 10 - 15 minutes. Skim off foam from mixture. Pour filling into pastry shells. Bake at 300 degrees F for about 30-45 minutes, or just until custard is set.
Makes ~24 tarts.