Lazy Egg Tarts

 

When I saw this egg tarts made using puff pastry at Nasi Lemak Lover's blog, I immediately bookmarked it.  Simply because I am lazy and simple or short-cut recipes attract me.  Just so that I had a piece of frozen puff pastry waiting to be used and my girls and I loved loved egg tarts (in any crust), so this recipe came in the right moment.  Each of us had three pieces after it came out of the oven and it was pretty good for a short-cut recipe.  However, I would prefer to use the pie crust for this instead of puff pastry the next time as it couldn't hold lots of filling as I was having difficulty in stretching the thawed puff pastry to fill the muffin hole.  

I would use the custard filling recipe again and make my own crust the next time I feel like eating egg tarts.  Definitely not a bad way to get a quick fix.  However, I would recommend the refrigerated pie crust instead of frozen puff pastry if you don't want to make your own crust and want a quick craving fix..

I saw the recipe at Nasi Lemak Lover and she adapted it from Forbidden Garden.

Ingredients:

Egg custard filling:

240g hot water
100g coarse sugar ( I used 90g granulated sugar)
3 eggs
¼ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp white vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar)

12pcs frozen square puff pastry, thawed (I used 1 piece of puff pastry, cut into 12 pieces) 


 












Method:

1. Dissolve sugar in hot water, set aside to cool.

2. Break eggs in a mixing bowl, lightly stir.

3. Add in syrup (no 1), vanilla extract and vinegar, lightly stir well to combine.

4. Sift twice, set aside.

5. Divide the puff pastry into 12 pieces and arrange it in a 12 holes muffin pan.

6. Pour egg custard filling in the puff pastry case, about 90% full.  I have some leftover filling which I just pour into a ramekin and bake together with the egg puff pastry.

7. Bake at pre-heated oven at 350'F for 35mins or till golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and leave to cool.

Spicy Sardine Puff Pastry

It is not a bad idea to keep some puff pastry in the freezer when it goes on sales.  It can make for a really quick snack or emergency finger food or appetizer.  Not a bad idea to have few canned of tomato sardine in the pantry for cases like this as well.  I always loved the spicy sardine filling, it was a flavor that I grew up loving and still love.  Too bad Evy didn't like the sardine filling, so Edda and I had most of it. :-P

This is one snack that is really easy to make with the frozen puff pastry.  You can get creative with all sort of fillings that you could imagine.  For example, curry chicken with potato, tuna, apple, kaya, red bean paste, nutella, cherry, strawberry, char siew, etc.  As long as you can imagine it, you can make it!

Ingredients:

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thaw in room temperature for 40 minutes.

1 egg + 1 tsp. water for egg wash

Sardine Filling:

1 small canned of tomato sardine, drain

1 big shallot, minced

1 Tbsp. key lime juice

1 Tbsp. ketchup

2 Tbsp. Maggi sweet chili sauce

1.  Cut the thawed puff pastry into 9 square pieces.  Mix the filling ingredients into a bowl.  Use a small roller and roll the puff pastry into a slightly bigger square, fill in the filling and seal it with a fork, like picture above.

 

2.  Brush the top with egg wash.  Bake in preheated 400'F oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

But OOPS!!  Why my filling came out during baking?  But never mind, let it cool and just stuff the filling in using a teaspoon.  Do you think is because I put too much filling?  Because I thought I sealed it pretty well.

Fruit Pastry using Puff Prata/ Pratha

Summer came with abandon of fresh berries, peaches, nectarines, melons, mango and all were on sales.  My house was fulled of all sort of fruits.  My hubby bought some nectarines but it were sour and soft and I bought some plums and it were sour as well.  So, all these sour fruits had been left in the refrigerator uneaten as the sweeter fruit would be chosen.  I had been thinking of a way to eat these fruits since I don't like to waste food.  Was thinking to make them into the fruits pastry cake but I was a bit lazy to make the cake.  Then, an idea came when I remembered I still have two pieces of frozen roti puff pratha in the freezer.  Thus, this fruit pastry was created.  Out of convenient and not wanting to throw away sour fruits.

I will show the step-by-step picture in the next page with the simple recipe.

First, cut and core the nectarines and plums, put them in a bowl.  Add in some blueberries and sweeten them with sugar and cinnamon (optional).  How much sugar to add depends on how much fruit you have and how many fruit pastry you are going to make. Stir to mix well.  Set aside.  [I used 4 nectarines, 2 plums and 1/2 cup of blueberries, used about 4-5 Tbsp. of sugar.] Take out your frozen prata/pratha and let it rest at room temperature until soften.

Second, place the soften prata on a Slipat or parchment paper.  Stretch it out a little bit, add in the filling like above picture.

After that, pull the prata over some of the fruit, like a blanket.  Brush the puff pastry with egg wash (from one beaten egg).

Lastly, bake it preheated 400'F oven for 25-28 minutes or until golden brown.  You can serve this with sprinkle powder sugar on top.  Good when it's still warm or at room-temperature.  Of course, you can use frozen puff pastry or filo papers for the wrapping as well.  You can also serve it with whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream. 

Verdict:  Everyone loved it!  Great way to dispose of the sour fruit and make such a great dessert presentation too.

Chinese Pastry with Mung Bean Paste

It looks very much like tau sar piah (mung bean biscuit) isn't it? But it is not! This pastry is soft and supposed to look like mooncake, but mine turned out looking completely different, more like Shanghai mooncake. I used Peony's walnut pastry recipe but omitted the walnuts and used mung bean paste as filling. I did alter the baking instruction in the end and perhaps that was the reason my pastry look different? I didn't bother to take it out and apply a second egg wash and put it back for additional 15 minutes. Instead I baked mine for a total of 25 minutes with egg yolk glaze. You think that's the cause?



For those who are interested in Peony's pastry recipe, click here. Hmm...I should decorate the top with some black sesame seeds or melon seeds ya! This recipe yields 22 mooncakes for me. I gave half away to a friend who came for tea. Don't think we all can finish so much within couple of days since I have no idea how long this homemade mooncake keep in a container.

Wife Cake (Lao Por Bing)/(Lor Por Peng)

Lily gave me two to try on Edda's birthday and I guess I'm too "thiam jiak" and two was not enough and thus I decided to look into Florence's recipe (she included step-by-step pictures), which was the recipe Lily used. I realized I actually have all the necessary ingredients and thus my hands started to itch again, or my mouth being "thiam jiak". LOL! So, I made it!!


I did some modification because I don't use shortening in my household. I used spreadable butter in the water dough and filling and I used 45g canola oil in the oil dough. This recipe yields 12 small wife cakes.


A closer view. This pastry is supposed to be soft and flaky but I like it crispy and flaky like on the day it was baked. Look at all the crumbs when I cut it open in half, so crispy and flaky! This pastry turns soft the next day so if you like it crispy, finish it on the day it is baked. But, if you like the original soft pastry just keep it til the next day. However, if you like me who couldn't finish all in a day, you get to enjoy both texture. *wink*

Verdict:
I love it! Even though this is the first time I tasted this kind of filling. I think in Malaysia we made the filling differently and also called it a wife cake. Click here to view. Hey, next time I can sprinkle some black and white sesame seeds on top eh. Will certainly make this again. Florence, thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe so that those of us who live overseas will get to make and enjoy this Chinese pastry too! :)


Modified to add recipe, my version (08/09/2009):

Water Dough:
100g cake flour
25g icing sugar
25g butter (cubed)
40g water

Oil Dough:
100g cake flour
45g canola oil/ vegetable oil

Filling:
50g candied winter melon, chopped to bite size
55g castor sugar
70g cooked glutinous rice flour (Koh Fun)
18g butter
15g roasted white sesame seeds
12g dessicated coconut
120g boiled drinking water (at room temp.)

Egg wash
1 yolk + 1 tsp. water + pinch of salt

Method:

1. Put all Filling ingredients into a big bowl, mix until combined. Divide into 12 equal portions.

2. Water Dough: Rub butter into sieved flour and icing sugar till bread crumb state. Add in the water till a pliable dough is formed. Cling wrap dough and rest for 30 minutes. Divide dough into 12 equal portions.

3. Oil Dough: Pour oil into flour and rub into an oily dough. Cling wrap and leave aside to rest for 30 minutes. Divide dough into 12 equal portions.

4. To Assemble: Flatten a piece of water dough and wrap in the oil dough. Press and roll out dough into a longish flar piece with a rolling pin. Roll it up Swiss roll-style. Turn the dough 90 degrees and then roll it into a longish flat piece. Roll it up Swiss roll-style again. Pinch the 2 side edges and shape it into a flat circular shape. Put a piece of filling in the center of the dough and wrapped it. Flatten it and make 2 snips into the dough using a pair of scissors. Apply egg wash.

5. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven at 400'F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Tau Sar Beng

I made this last weekend using tthksy recipe from kitchencapers.net. It was very good. Note that there will be extra filling leftover, just freeze it for future use.

Recipe courtesy of tthksy:

Dough A
230 g Flour
130 g oil

Dough B
460 g Flour
250 g Oil
180 g water
1 tsp vinegar

Filling (salty savory kind)
180 g oil
10 - 15 shallots - thinly sliced
300 g sugar
3 tsp salt
3 tsp white pepper
600 g mung beans

Method

1. Soak the beans for at least 2 hours, steamed and mashed.
2. Add sugar, salt & white pepper to the mashed beans.
3. Heat oil, fry the shallots till brown and fragrant
4. Pour in the bean mixture. Fry till mixture dry and can make into a ball. Divide filling into 100 pieces.
5. Mix A, Divide into 100 pieces
6. Mix B, Divide into 100 pieces
7. Wrap B around A. flatten it and roll it up swiss roll style. Flatten again and roll it up swiss roll style again.
8. Flatten and wrap the filling in it.
9. Brush with egg wash, top with sesame seeds.
10. Bake at preheated 350 F oven for 10-15 mins.

This is the modification from Florence,
She made half portion of the recipe and got 40 pieces.

Dough A = 4g or slightly less than 1/2 tsp
Dough B = 12g Filling = 16g
Dough A reduced oil from 130g to 115g (easier to handle).
Dough B reduced oil from 250g to 220g.

Her pastry skin is thin but if you like thicker pastry skin you can try 5g of dough A with 15g of dough B and 15g - 16g of filling. She did not make any changes to the filling and the filling is very nice.

She bake for 20 minutes at 175C in the middle rack then 10 minutes at 200C on the upper rack just to get the nice golden colour. ** This is for her oven only. Please double check your own oven temperature. **