Pastry 911: Chinese Custard Tarts

[sheetz]

Hi everyone. The Chinese Cooking forum is currently having a Dan Tart (Chinese Custart Tart) cook-off but we've hit a dead end as far as being able to produce a tart similar to ones found in the best dim sum restaurants. The custard filling isn't the problem, it's the crust--nearly all the recipes we've found use either a shortbread type crust or a basic pie dough crust. Yet the ones in the restaurants are made with a beautifully layered pastry and usually look something like this:

http://www.yanksing.com/our-desserts-egg-custard-tart.htm

We've also found recipes for the Portuguese version, but that's really a whole different animal altogether.

Thus, in desperation we've turned to the pastry gurus of this forum for help. Is there anyone here that knows how to make a tart just like the one in the picture, or at least have any suggestions about how one go about doing it? Thanks.

[Wendy DeBord]

I beleive the type of crust your seeking is made from puff pastry. Most people purchase it in the frozen food section of your grocery store, but it certainly can be made at home.

[Gastro888]

But it's not the same as puff pastry. If you use puff pastry to make dan tats, you won't get the same texture as if you used the double layer (water and oil pastry put together) pastry.

Chinese cooking doesn't use alot of dairy products so it would be hard for me to imagine puff pastry being used for this dish. I don't think lard could be substituted in puff pastry - can it?

[aprilmei]

Yes, it's lard that is traditionally used in Chinese flaky pastry. Some places now substitute shortening but real lard pastry is absolutely wonderful - incredibly light, delicate and flaky.

[BettyK]

I beleive the type of crust your seeking is made from puff pastry. Most people purchase it in the frozen food section of your grocery store, but it certainly can be made at home.

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Those who have tried puff pastry said it didn't work. Wendy, is it possible to bake puff pastry from frozen? Or would it be better to roll, refrigerate, fill and bake?

[yslee]

I'll second the use of lard. I also think the traditional puff pastry technique will work, using lard instead of butter. (That's essentially what the trad Chinese recipes suggest with their 2-dough method.) Then I'd suggest blind-baking them (weighted) to give the sides of the tart a chance to puff instead of sog. Then top up with custard and finish.

Of course, I'm feeling too lazy to try this myself, today. If I summon the energy, I'll wander over to the Chinese cooking forum and actually participate instead of bombarding you with advice from the safety of P&B!

[Tepee]

I'll second the use of lard. I also think the traditional puff pastry technique will work, using lard instead of butter. (That's essentially what the trad Chinese recipes suggest with their 2-dough method.) Then I'd suggest blind-baking them (weighted) to give the sides of the tart a chance to puff instead of sog. Then top up with custard and finish.

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I'm going to give this a go tomorrow. Question is how do you blind-bake something so small?

[Rhea_S]

I made egg tarts this morning and I used this recipe for the dough: Eccles Cake pastry. It's a bit more simple than puff pastry. The crust did end up looking like the picture in the first post. I didn't pre-bake the crust and that worked fine except for the ones I overfilled. The crust became soggy only on the ones where the egg mixture boiled over and seeped down the sides. My egg custard still needs work though. I'm going to bake another batch tonight and take pictures. I didn't have time this morning. I haven't had an egg tart in a long time, so I don't have a point for comparison. Should the crust be slightly sweet? My only problem with the above recipe is that it lacks a bit in flavor, or maybe I just don't like the flavor of lard. These released from the pans easily and I didn't have to do any prep on the pans.

[sheetz]

I'll second the use of lard. I also think the traditional puff pastry technique will work, using lard instead of butter. (That's essentially what the trad Chinese recipes suggest with their 2-dough method.) Then I'd suggest blind-baking them (weighted) to give the sides of the tart a chance to puff instead of sog. Then top up with custard and finish.

Of course, I'm feeling too lazy to try this myself, today.  If I summon the energy, I'll wander over to the Chinese cooking forum and actually participate instead of bombarding you with advice from the safety of P&B!

←

I wish you would try it. I certainly couldn't make it turn out how I wanted, and I'm quite certain the restaurants don't use puff pastry, either. Chinese pastry methods are very different than French ones and the two really aren't interchangeable.

Edited April 27, 2005 by sheetz (log)

[sheetz]

I made egg tarts this morning and I used this recipe for the dough:  Eccles Cake pastry. It's a bit more simple than puff pastry. The crust did end up looking like the picture in the first post. I didn't pre-bake the crust and that worked fine except for the ones I overfilled. The crust became soggy only on the ones where the egg mixture boiled over and seeped down the sides. My egg custard still needs work though. I'm going to bake another batch tonight and take pictures. I didn't have time this morning. I haven't had an egg tart in a long time, so I don't have a point for comparison. Should the crust be slightly sweet? My only problem with the above recipe is that it lacks a bit in flavor, or maybe I just don't like the flavor of lard. These released from the pans easily and I didn't have to do any prep on the pans.

←

I'll definitely try this! Thanks for the recipe.

[chefcyn]

My friend gave me this recipe to post here--I haven't tried it, but the ingredients and instructions look viable.

Maggie's Chinese Egg Custard Tarts

Pastry:

1/4 c butter

1/4 c lard (OR all lard)

1 large egg

6 tbs sugar

2 c sifted AP flour.

Cream the butter and lard together. Combine the egg and sugar; add to the fats and beat well. Add flour in two parts,

The dough will be mealy. Work quickly with your

hands to gather dough into a ball. Knead lightly so the mixture

adheres. Wrap in plastic and chill while making the filling.

Filling

2 jumbo eggs

3 jumbo egg yolks

1 c milk (NOT low or non-fat)

1/2 c half and half

1 c granulated sugar

Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

Beat eggs and yolks at low speed until well combined. Do not

over beat.

Add sugar,beat to combine, then milk, then half and half. Let mixture rest 10 - 15 minutes while you prepare the crust for filling. Skim foam from mixture before placing in the tart shells.

Assembly and Baking:

Preheat oven to 300.

Separate dough evenly into 24 pieces. Press each evenly into the bottoms and all the way up the sides of 24 --2 1/2 inch tart shells. Fill shell with filling almost to the top.

Place tartpan(s) on a sheetpan and bake for 45 minutes. Cool for 10 - 15 minutes on a rack. Loosen slightly by inserting a toothpick along the sides.

Tarts should unmold easily.

[Rhea_S]

I forgot to add that I only made a half recipe of the Eccles Cake pastry and it gave me 48 mini-muffin sized tarts. I also substituted vinegar for the lemon.

Edit to add a picture of my first attempt at egg tarts. The better looking ones were eaten earlier and I forgot that one of my co-workers always has her digital camera.

Edited April 27, 2005 by Rhea_S (log)

[yslee]

I'm going to give this a go tomorrow. Question is how do you blind-bake something so small?

←

I'd drop a paper cupcake liner on top of each dough circle and then fill it with beans/pie weights. Wendy DeBord might have a better suggestion.

I should add that I'm no pastry chef (just an avid home baker) but for you, sheetz, this weekend I will attempt to put my money where my mouth (fingers? keyboard?) is.

[Wendy DeBord]

Well after thinking about somethings previously mentioned by others............I do agree that the Chinesse rarely approach baked goods from the same mixture of ingredients us westerners do...........and I bet I've got this wrong thinking they used puff pastry as I know it.

If you think about it, theres alot of doughs that can give you that same layered look. My kolahcky dough or a cream cheese dough can duplicate that layered effect. I think I'd have to taste this dough have more information.

I highly doubt they are blind baking these tartlets. That would be a pain. I imaging the weight of the custard retards the rise in the center of the dough (as it does with other similar items).

I haven't had a chance to read thru everyones custard trials...........but certainly theres been some published recipes on this item to learn from, no? Even if the recipe varies from one recipe to the next, is there no similarities between crust recipes? What's the typical crust recipe look like, can you post one?

If you take a recipe for the crust and give it a couple of turns with a rolling pin, that should reproduce the layering you see that mimicks puff pastry.

[sheetz]

I haven't had a chance to read thru everyones custard trials...........but certainly theres been some published recipes on this item to learn from, no?

The strange thing is that, there really aren't! It's just like I said in the first post, there are recipes like Chefcyn's for the shortbread type crust, and there are others which just use a normal pie crust. I and some others suspect that the restaurant recipes are closely guarded secrets.

I'm currently experimenting with blitz puff pastry and I think the results come pretty close to what we're looking for.

Edited April 29, 2005 by sheetz (log)

[kjente2]

This is one that I was given in a chinese cooking class some years ago. The woman teaching the class had grown up in her family's resturant.

Don Tot (Custard Tarts)

Tart Pastry:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup lard

1 egg

6 tbsp sugar

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

cream the butter and lard. Add egg and sugar. Beat wel. Add flour, one cup at a time. the dough will be mealy. work quickly with your hands to gather the dough into a ball. Knead lightly so the mixture adheres. You may chill it at this point while making the filling.

Filling

2 whole extra large eggs

3 extra large egg yolks

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup of half and half

1 cup sugar

To make filling: Be sure all ingredients are room temperature. beat whole eggs with egg yolks well. Beat at low speed. Do not overbeat. Add sugar, then milk, half and half. let mixture rest for 10 - 15 minutes. Skim off al the foam from the mixture.

Separate the dough into approximately 20 balls. Press each into 2 1/2 " tart shell making an even layer across the bottom and up the sides. Fill the tart shells with filling almost to the top.

Preheat oven to 300 degress F. Please tarts on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes. Cool for 10 - 15 minutes. Loosen slightly by inserting a toothpick along the sides.

[aprilmei]

Okay, I looked in Florence Lin's fabulous book of noodles, dumplings in breads. I haven't tried her recipe for flaky pastry but everything else I've tried turns out wonderfully.

For the flaky pastry, she makes two doughs: a water dough (flour, a small amount of crisco or lard, and warm water) and an oil dough made with flour and chilled crisco or lard.

The water dough is shaped into a circle and the oil dough is enclosed inside. It's then rolled into an oblong piece, folded into thirds, rolled out again and folded again into thirds. So it basically IS puff, only with fewer turns. For the dan tarts, she gives the dough one more turn, cuts circles and fits them into a round tin. After refrigerating the tart shells, they're filled with the custard and then baked.

If anybody is interested in the recipe, I'll try to type it out, making the appropriate changes in wording.

[Tepee]

I actually gave the link for the 2 pastry dough earlier in the dan tart thread. Here. I was going to try it out first, but I've run out of high protein flour. Too much bread, too little flour.....

[Apicio]

Here is 1/18 of the formula we use at the shop. We use a commercial dough relaxer to shorten rest periods and to improve the laminating quality of the dough. A sales rep once told me that you can substitute a little vinegar for the water so we tried it and it works. Real chinese puff pastry such as Virginia Lee’s requires the cake flour for the lard paste to be steamed and cooled overnight. We never tried this. Too much work. We bake this to golden brown at 375 for 18 to 22 minutes. Now for the custard tarts you have to find the optimum temperature because the best texture of custard is obtained in a slower oven. From the ever so refined Hong Kong version that I adore, I suspect that the custard filling contains very little milk making it almost like the Cuban tocino del cielo.

Chinese Puff Pastry

All purpose flour 500 grams

White sugar 75

Salt 5

Salad oil 175

Cold water 250

Cake flour 200

Lard (not Crisco) 150

Place the first three ingredients in your food processor, pulse, add the salad oil and pulse until the oil is absorbed. Pour in the cold water and process until the resulting dough forms into a ball. Wrap in plastic film and refrigerate until dough has relaxed (say an hour.)

Place the last two ingredients in your food processor and pulse until a uniform paste forms. This paste gets runny in a hot kitchen. Do not allow it to get runny by chilling it in the fridge. It should be of spreading consistency though.

Proceed as with classic puff pastry by rolling the first dough into a rectangle. On to 2/3 of its surface, spread the lard paste with a spatula. Observe the rest/chilling periods to allow the dough to relax. Rose Levy Beranbaum’s puff pastry adds an extra turn at the end making it identical to Chinese puff pastry.

[sheetz]

Thanks for the recipe, Apicio. One question, though, are you saying that this recipe you provided is used for custard tarts as well as for other pastries like Cha Siu pastry, loh po beng (wife cakes), etc.? It seems to me that the two doughs would be different.

[Apicio]

This is a basic puff pastry that is used in any of the savoury or sweet asian pastry that calls for puff pastry. In the shop, we use it for hopia which is a Filipino version of a particular kind of mooncake. We use them for wrapping sweet mung bean paste, wintermellon filling and our very own purple yam paste. It is also fantastic as crust for no-fry empanadas when egg is substituted for part of the water.

[sheetz]

This is  a basic puff pastry that is used in any of the savoury or sweet asian pastry that calls for puff pastry.  In the shop, we use it for hopia which is a Filipino version of a particular kind of mooncake.  We use them for wrapping sweet mung bean paste, wintermellon filling and our very own purple yam paste.  It is also fantastic as crust for no-fry empanadas when egg is substituted for part of the water.

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Thanks. Will give it a try, but I have a feeling custard tart pastry will be a little different than Chinese flaky pastry. I have tried using my own recipe for Chinese flaky pastry for custard tarts without success.

[chefcyn]

This is one that I was given in a chinese cooking class some years ago.  The woman teaching the class had grown up in her family's resturant.

Don Tot (Custard Tarts)

Tart Pastry:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup lard

1 egg

6 tbsp sugar

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

cream the butter and lard. Add egg and sugar. Beat wel. Add flour, one cup at a time. the dough will be mealy. work quickly with your hands to gather the dough into a ball. Knead lightly so the mixture adheres. You may chill it at this point while making the filling.

Filling

2 whole extra large eggs

3 extra large egg yolks

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup of half and half

1 cup sugar

To make filling: Be sure all ingredients are room temperature. beat whole eggs with egg yolks well. Beat at low speed. Do not overbeat. Add sugar, then milk, half and half. let mixture rest for 10 - 15 minutes. Skim off al the foam from the mixture.

Separate the dough into approximately 20 balls. Press each into 2 1/2 " tart shell making an even layer across the bottom and up the sides. Fill the tart shells with filling almost to the top.

Preheat oven to 300 degress F. Please tarts on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes. Cool for 10 - 15 minutes. Loosen slightly by inserting a toothpick along the sides.

←

My friend must have taken the same class or had the same teacher at some point--it's almost exactly the same--just worded differently. Small world!

[kjente2]

My friend must have taken the same class or had the same teacher at some point--it's almost exactly the same--just worded differently. Small world!

and they say there's no culture in the tundra.