Dan Tart Cook-off I

[Dejah]

This thread is for Dan Tart, or Chinese egg custard tart.

Are you using puff pastry, 2 dough pastry, pie pastry?

How do you keep the custard from boiling over?

Do you keep a pan of water in the oven during the baking step?

Show all! Tell everything! No secrets allow among eGulleteers.

[snowangel]

What's 2 dough pastry?

Think it's time I dug out my Wei Chuan and Pei Mei cookbooks (I own full collection).

[Dejah]

What's 2 dough pastry?

Think it's time I dug out my Wei Chuan and Pei Mei cookbooks (I own full collection).

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Snowangel,

I have been checking out my Pei Mei's Volume II. She calls them the inside and outside layer.

Wei Chuan calls them water-shortening dough and flaky dough.

BTW, how many volumes are there for Pei Mei?

[sheetz]

Could someone post the Pei Mei recipe? Thanks.

[torakris]

do we get kicked out for using frozen?

can frozen pastry dough even be used for these??

[Tepee]

This is the site of a very good e-friend, Joanne. I don't know how she did her site but I can't seem to get the urls to the specific recipes. Anyway, just click 'chinese dim sum, pastries and desserts' on the left menu. You'll see the 2 dough pastry/chinese pastry. There's also a how-to for siu mai/shao mai.

[Dejah]

do we get kicked out for using frozen?

can frozen pastry dough even be used for these??

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I have recipes that use a short pastry. I am sure frozen would work, but you may not achieve that layered flaky tart shell...me thinks...

[torakris]

I found a recipe in Essentials of Asian Cuisine by Corrine Tran and the pastry recipe actually looks easy enough for me to try.

Next question....

I just realized that these things are made in little fluted tins tins which I don't have...

anyway to get around this?

I may have to go to the store on Monday.

[SuzySushi]

I found a recipe in Essentials of Asian Cuisine by Corrine Tran and the pastry recipe actually looks easy enough for me to try.

Next question....

I just realized that these things are made in little fluted tins tins which I don't have...

anyway to get around this?

I may have to go to the store on Monday.

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I have a bunch of fluted tins that are too small for the recipe (more like candy tins!) and others that are too large and sloped (mini brioche pans). I think I'm going to use my muffin pans! Okay, so they aren't fluted, but I can put the finished products into cupcake papers and they'll look reasonably like the real thing.

[torakris]

I found a recipe in Essentials of Asian Cuisine by Corrine Tran and the pastry recipe actually looks easy enough for me to try.

Next question....

I just realized that these things are made in little fluted tins tins which I don't have...

anyway to get around this?

I may have to go to the store on Monday.

←

I have a bunch of fluted tins that are too small for the recipe (more like candy tins!) and others that are too large and sloped (mini brioche pans). I think I'm going to use my muffin pans! Okay, so they aren't fluted, but I can put the finished products into cupcake papers and they'll look reasonably like the real thing.

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do you think they will work in muffin tins? I have muffin tins, mini muffin tins and popover tins.....

[sheetz]

Some of the high end dim sum restaurants make very tiny sized egg tarts, roughly the size of mini muffins.

[SuzySushi]

do you think they will work in muffin tins? I have muffin tins, mini muffin tins and popover tins.....

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I don't see why not... I'll press the pastry about halfway up the sides to compensate for the greater depth. They might be a little harder to unmold than individual tins, but the recipe I have calls for lining up the individual tins on a baking sheet anyway. Can't hurt to try it! That'll be my experiment, anyway.

[Dejah]

I will be using muffin tins, regular size ones. There is enough "fat" in the pastry that unmolding shouldn't be a problem. Having said that....

[torakris]

thanks guys, muffin tins it is!

you just saved me some money.....

[jschyun]

Yeah, I use muffin tins for all sorts of little tarts including these cute little key lime tarts that nobody guesses were formed from muffin tins. The only reason why I wouldn't use it for dan tat is that I wouldn't know how to get it out of hte pan easily, but if you can figure it out, I'd love to hear about it.

So about the two dough pastry, I have never been privy to a professional kitchen but it seems to me that they take long layers of dough and fold each of the two doughs over each other until they have a bunch of layers. Then I am guessing they stamp out each individual tart. Then maybe they reuse the trimmings as base for the shortening dough or something. The fact that you can see the layers on the cooked product suggests this manner of production to me. What do you think? I personally think the Wei-Chuan recipe is a crock of **** but gives hints to what I think we're actually supposed to be doing.

Actually, I don't think using fluted tins is right either. They have to be round little baby pie pan thingies, I thought, the better to show off the many layers of the crust, right?

Edited April 16, 2005 by jschyun (log)

[SuzySushi]

Actually, I don't think using fluted tins is right either.  They have to be round little baby pie pan thingies, I thought, the better to show off the many layers of the crust, right?

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When I've bought dan tat for takeout, they've been in little foil pie pans & look like the pastry was rolled out the cut with a fluted biscuit cutter.

[hzrt8w]

If you can read Chinese, here is a recipe of Dan Tart in Leisure-Cat.com:

http://www.leisure-cat.com/frm_1176.htm

[sheetz]

Yeah, I use muffin tins for all sorts of little tarts including these cute little key lime tarts that nobody guesses were formed from muffin tins. The only reason why I wouldn't use it for dan tat is that I wouldn't know how to get it out of hte pan easily, but if you can figure it out, I'd love to hear about it.

If the crust is sturdy enough it should be easy enough to lift out. If not, maybe you could line the muffin cups with foil and use the foil to lift them out.

So about the two dough pastry, I have never been privy to a professional kitchen but it seems to me that they take long layers of dough and fold each of the two doughs over each other until they have a bunch of layers.  Then I am guessing they stamp out each individual tart.  Then maybe they reuse the trimmings as base for the shortening dough or something.  The fact that you can see the layers on the cooked product suggests this manner of production to me.  What do you think?  I personally think the Wei-Chuan recipe is a crock of **** but gives hints to what I think we're actually supposed to be doing.

Right now I'm guessing it's similar to a French puff pastry, but with fewer folds so that the layers are still distinct. I was hoping someone would post the Pei Mei recipe because I remember she does something similar. Anyone?

[sheetz]

If you can read Chinese, here is a recipe of Dan Tart in Leisure-Cat.com:

http://www.leisure-cat.com/frm_1176.htm

Um, not NEARLY enough. lol I can sort of make out the ingredient list. Let's see, the dough has an "oil skin" part and a "water skin" part. The oil skin has flour, butter, and lard. The water skin has flour, egg, and water. Can't read the directions.

[Transparent]

Ohh, dan tart. I'd really like to make this, but my parents have explicitly told me not to make it. "Why make something so cheap?" Honestly, they're the most expensive item (by weight/size) in bakeries, at the same price as a bun. I even have these strange tart/brioche hybrid tins that I could use for some enormongous* dan tart.

*Not a real word

[Dejah]

Ohh, dan tart. I'd really like to make this, but my parents have explicitly told me not to make it. "Why make something so cheap?" Honestly, they're the most expensive item (by weight/size) in bakeries, at the same price as a bun. I even have these strange tart/brioche hybrid tins that I could use for some enormongous* dan tart.

*Not a real word

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Go ahead and make these "enormongous" dan tarts anyway! The size would be like the custard pies we bought in England. Most people would share one among 4 friends. I ate a whole one by myself! But then, that was when I was pregnant and ate alot.

[Dejah]

I made my first batch of dan tart, and was very disappointed in the results. I used a recipe from Wei-Chuan's Chinese Dim sum book.

I actually followed the recipe( for the first time in my life without wavering) to a gram by using a newly purchased electronic scale. Followed the instructions carefully, but it must be my technique in rolling the dough with the two layers.

The filling was a terrible colour...very pale yellow with a greyish tinge. Did not look appetizing at all. It used eggs, water and sugar.

I tasted 1/4 of one, and man! The pastry was chewy on the bottom inspite of having layers.

The instructions said to crimp the edges, so I did. Can't see any layers when you do that.

So, I have another recipe done up and 12 are now in the oven. This is a recipe by Rhonda Yee. She uses a recipe with butter and lard...single layer. None of this outsy and innsy stuff. The filling called for eggs, milk and half'n'half. I thought the colour was still too pale, so for 3 of the tarts, I added the tiniest dab of yellow cake decorating colour.

We'll see what happens. I took pictures of the process from the first batch, and the rexults before I threw them into the garbage. The seond batch, I didn't take pictures of the process but I will post the results.

"sigh"

[sheetz]

Dejah, sorry to hear about your problems. Based on my past experience making custard pies, I think these are going to be a bit tricky.

Edited April 17, 2005 by sheetz (log)

[hzrt8w]

.....The filling was a terrible colour...very pale yellow with a greyish tinge. Did not look appetizing at all. It used eggs, water and sugar.

.....

The filling called for eggs, milk and half'n'half. I thought the colour was still too pale, so for 3 of the tarts, I added the tiniest dab of yellow cake decorating colour.

.....

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Did you use only egg york or both egg york and egg white in making the filling?

I think egg tarts are very difficult to make well. That's why I am disappointed by many Chinese bakeries in my neighborhood. May be they have the same issues.

Keep trying. I am sure you can make some good ones in the end.

I understand tarts are western bakery concepts. But are Egg Tarts a unique Hong Kongers' creation? Anybody knows?

Edited April 17, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)

[hzrt8w]

I actually followed the recipe( for the first time in my life without wavering) to a gram by using a newly purchased electronic scale. Followed the instructions carefully, but it must be my technique in rolling the dough with the two layers.

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There are so many recipes out there in making tarts.

Can you describe the recipe that you were following where the result was not up to par?