TCJ Recipes: Puff Pastry Egg Tart

I am just going to pretend like the mini-hiatus since June never happened, because every single second spent thinking about the backlog of posts that I have just makes me dizzy all over again, and that is not something I want to feel on a regular basis.

So to make up for it, I'm going to give you another simple recipe that I adapted from various sources, of which the most notable consisting of my favourite celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver.

If you must know, I have upgraded from a rice-cooker life to an apartment which has its built-in oven, and I had been dying to test it out, but had no idea what was worthy to christen my first oven session. Then the other day I realised the local supermarket had a sale on puff pastry, and I immediately recalled the egg custard tarts that I had been dreaming of since watching it almost seven months ago.




However, having tried this once before back home in Singapore with my mom and aunt, it ended up a failure and somehow scarred me a little. So, in attempting this a second time, I went to do more research with regards to people who have tried out the same recipe, and also Googled for more egg tart recipes.

My references were mainly from Christine's Recipes and The Extraordinary Art of Cake. It was after making the tarts that I found The Art of Bing, which had a detailed explanation and visual presentation.

The egg tarts I made came out pretty awesome, if I should say so myself. They were cinnamon-y and zesty from the orange. Here's the recipe and directions I sort of adapted for my own convenience.

Makes 6 tarts

Ingredients:

1 large egg
2 tablespoons raw sugar (caster sugar would be best)
4 tablespoons hot water
2 1/2 teaspoons condensed milk (most recipes called for evaporated, but I didn't have any)
Ground Cinnamon
Zest of orange
About 1 1/2 tablespoons of orange juice.
1 20x20 cm sheet of puff pastry
Flour for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Ensure your puff pastry is thawed and easily malleable, but not so soft that it becomes sticky.
3. Place it on a lightly floured surface and generously sprinkle the cinnamon on one side of the pastry sheet. I may have overdone it a little so show some restraint if you are a cinnamon lover haha!
4. Roll the pastry up and cut into 6 equal rolls. Then in your oiled / buttered muffin tins, press those rolls down (like Jamie Oliver did). It is easier to watch him do it at this point because I forgot to take pictures.
5. Gently shape it so that it looks like:

6. Toss that in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, dissolve the sugar in the hot water. Add the orange zest and orange juice to the mixture.

8. Mix it in with the condensed milk and egg and whisk well.

9. Take the pastry out and with a teaspoon, gently press the puff pastry back against the tin to create wells in which to pour the egg mixture in. Do not worry if the mixture overflows into the tin, as the sugar in the mixture will ensure a caramelised exterior (that surprised me).

10. Bake it for another 10 to 15 minutes and voila!

On hindsight, I realised that the sugar and water was unnecessary and more egg should have been used. So I will be using 1 1/2 to 2 eggs next time and omitting the sugar and hot water, instead, adding maybe a teaspoon more condensed milk. It would also be wise to add more zest, perhaps lemon might give it a more subtle kick. Since I have 9 more sheets of puff pastry left, I'm pretty certain this recipe will be honed and refined over and over again! :)

Have fun with these beauties!