I heart you, Tart

Some people refer to it as the Portugese Egg Tart while others swear on their cat's nine lives that it's actually called the Hong Kong Egg Tart.

I'm not really bothered by the details but I read a blog which described these egg tarts as "something Portuguese, reincarnated as a Chinese dessert".  I like that.

Having said that, there are numerous  variations of the egg tart.

There are many egg tarts recipes floating around but rarely can you find two that are identical. They share the same base recipe but add a spice or something that makes them deviants.

For example, some egg tarts are made with shortcrust pastry and some with puff pastry.

Some recipes suggest you sprinkle cinnamon or nutmeg onto the custard while others make do with vanilla essence.

At the end of the day, a recipe is just a rough guide. You decide how you want your food to be. You reap what you sow and you hafta eat what you cook ...

[caption id="attachment_987" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Soft, sweet dough, shaped into balls. "][/caption]

Here's a step by step of how I made my egg tart. You can, of course, alter it any way you wish.

STEP 1: Make syrup.

Add 2/3 cup sugar into 1 cup boiling water and keep on low heat till sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and let the syrup cool.

STEP 2: Make pastry

Sift together 2 cups of flour and 1 cup icing sugar. Add 2/3 cup butter and mix till crumbly. Add 1/2 an egg (beaten)  into the crumbly mix and form a dough. Chill for about 30 mins. Form into balls and shape them into greased muffin pans.

[caption id="attachment_988" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The egg mixture is thin but hardens well in the often "][/caption]

STEP 3: Egg custard.

Break and beat 41/2 eggs mixed with a drop of vanilla essence. Strain the egg mixture. Add the syrup and mix well.

[caption id="attachment_989" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Sunny and nice. "][/caption]

STEP 4: Assembling the tarts

Pour the egg mixture into the pastry cups. Bake in a moderate oven (160C) for about 30 mins or till custard sets.

Yummy. I actually reduced the sugar a little as I didn't want my tarts to come out too sweet and I'm glad I did. They were good and not too eggy (well as not eggy as an egg tart can be!)

So, until I determine for sure if these are Portugese Egg Tarts or Hong Kong Egg Tarts, I'll call them my Midnight Egg Tarts.