The Making of Egg Tart

Hi everyone,

Today is a rainy day in Malacca, Malaysia. Yesterday, I have written about my first attempt of baking Angel Food Cake. Actually I did Egg Tart too besides Angel Food Cake. However, this is the second time I am baking egg tart with the recipe provided by Christine's Recipes. This time round I did make a slight changes to the recipe. Previously, I followed exactly as given in the recipes and it turn out to be too sweet for me. Well, if you read my previous post, you will know that I am not a big fan of super sweet stuffs. I am rather satisfied with the outcome this time but still have big room for improvement. My crust taste rather salty. I guess this is due to reducing the amount of sugar. Therefore, the proportion isn't right. Next time round, I will try to reduce the sugar needed and only put a pinch in it. Also, I am working on improving the crust thickness. Frankly, it is rather hard for me to mold the crust and make it balance. 

Here are the ingredients that I have used to make my Egg Tart which I have adapted from Christine's Recipes:

For the crust:

225 gm Plain Flour

125 gm Unsalted Butter, room temperature

30 gm Icing Sugar

1 Whole Egg, whisked

a tiny bit of French Vanilla Bean

For the custard filling: 

2 Whole Eggs

2 Egg Yolks

85 gm Caster Sugar

225 gm Hot Water

85 gm Evaporated Milk

1/4 tsp French Vanilla Bean

I started off making crust. Firstly, I whisk the unsalted butter and icing sugar together until creamy and smooth. Then I add in the egg by two portion and the French vanilla bean. Usually egg and butter mixture will split but if you add in the egg slowly to the butter mixture and stir well, it will be well incorporated.  I don't know why but I think is just science. Lastly, put in the flour one third at a time until all is well mixed. There are some people saying that you should place the dough in the fridge for at least 10 to 15 minutes before molding. However, I haven't try yet. Maybe next time when I bake this, I will try to chill the dough first to see if it works better.

I feel that the filling is the easiest thing to do. Basically just mix all the ingredient together (of course with certain steps). Firstly, I melt the sugar in the hot water. Then I leave the sugar water to cool slightly. In another bowl, I mix the evaporated milk, whole eggs and egg yolks together and whisk it slightly. I try not incorporate air into the mixture. Finally, I pour the milk and egg mixture to the cooled sugar water slowly and stir well. Then, i pass it through a fine sift to make sure that the mixture is smooth for a good texture. 

By the way, I have preheated my oven at 220 degree C 10 minutes before baking. I reduce the temperature to 200 degree C after 5 minutes and continue to bake for another 10 minutes. After that, I reduce the temperature again to 180 degree C and bake until the custard filling is set. I did put a cloth to make the oven door stay open a little bit when I see the custard start to rise. This is to prevent the custard filling rise too high as it will collapse after you take out from the oven. It will form an ugly surface if it rise too high. I tested the tart by inserting a tooth pick into the custard. I know it is ready if the toothpick can stand still. 

Well, that is my process of baking Egg Tart. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading :)

~ By Nicole with love ~