Of wasted life & egg tarts......

I've never made egg tarts at home. The last time I had a hand in making them was during may pastry-making course at BITC. I didn't like the pastry. I've tried the store-bought ones a couple of times but they didn't excite me.  Last week, Amir asked me if I knew how to make egg tarts & if I could make some one day. That request came after a friend told him he would have wasted his life if he had not tasted egg tarts! Haha... Really....?

On Monday morning, I searched for a recipe & decided to use Wendy's. Started mixing the dough right after I'm done with typing & printing the recipe. By afternoon, these delightful tarts were already out of the oven.....  And these yummy-looking tarts sure did excite me! 

Just look at the tarts! Aren't they beautiful....? Of course they don't look like the ones out there, neat & uniform, but I just love the rustic look. On top of that, they are so delicious & very addictive!! This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you Wendy for sharing!

Alright, before I leave you with the recipe, let me just share with you my experience with baking these tarts. I baked them in two batches, one on Monday & the other yesterday. I thought the pastry for the first batch was a bit too thick. Other than that, they were perfect. I only managed to take one picture of the first batch using my phone when it was just out of oven, before I left the house to run some errands. You may take a look at it on my  Facebook Page. I also baked them at 200 deg C for about 25 minutes. For the second batch, the dough  was a bit too thin so much so the custard for some shells seeped through even before I could put the tray into the oven. I also baked them at 200 deg C for the first 10 minutes & reduced it to 180 for the next 15 minutes. The tarts turned out to be more fragile than the ones from the first batch. A bit more baking time would be good... So the next time I make this tart, I'll make sure that I roll out the dough to a medium thickness & bake them at 200 dec C, just as recommended by Wendy. Do read Wendy's post where she shared some tips on the thickness of the shells.

Egg Tart
Recipe by Wendy of Table for 2...Or More.
(I made about 22 tarts.)

Pastry:
250g plain flour
2 tbsp castor sugar
1 egg yolk
150g butter

Filling:
150g castor sugar
150 ml hot water
250 ml milk
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
3 large eggs
1 egg white


Method:

1. For pastry, cream butter, egg yolk & sugar until well blended.
2. Add flour & mix gently until well mixed. (Do not overmix or the pastry will be tough. If dough is sticky, add flour, a tsp at a time just until dough is not sticky.) Cover dough with plastic & leave to rest for about 20 minutes. (I added this step based on my knowledge on pastry making.)
3. Roll out pastry in between 2 sheets of plastic into thickness of about 4mm. Cut out pastry into circles using pastry cutter.
4. Gently press pastry into  tartlet pan.
5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
6. For filling, beat all eggs lightly & set aside.
7. Dissolve sugar in hot water. Add in milk, salt & vanilla.
8. Finally, add in eggs & mix until well blend.
9. Strain custard mixture & pour into cold tart shells.
10. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 (with fan) / 200 deg C for 25 minutes.