Flaky Hong Kong Egg Tarts (Dan Tat)

⏱ 110 min · Serves 12

Golden, wobbly custard set in shatteringly flaky pastry — the kind you'd grab warm from a Cheung Sha Wan bakery window. A little rolling and folding, but no fancy kit needed, and the payoff is huge.

Per serving: 232 kcal · 4.5g protein · 22.0g carbs · 14.0g fat

Ingredients

• Water dough: 150g plain flour
• 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten (reserve 1 tbsp)
• 30g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1-2 tbsp cold water
• Pinch of salt
• Butter block: 110g cold unsalted butter
• 30g plain flour
• Custard: 100g caster sugar
• 220ml hot water
• 3 large eggs, plus the reserved 1 tbsp
• 60ml evaporated milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Make the water dough: rub 30g butter into the 150g flour, icing sugar and salt until sandy. Add most of the beaten egg (keep 1 tbsp for the custard) and 1 tbsp cold water; bring together into a smooth, soft dough. Wrap and chill 20 minutes.
2. Make the butter block: beat 110g butter with 30g flour until smooth, shape into a 12cm square between baking paper and chill 15 minutes.
3. Roll the dough to a 24cm square. Place the butter block diagonally in the centre and fold the four corners over to enclose it. Roll out to a 20x35cm rectangle.
4. Fold in three like a letter, turn 90 degrees, roll out again and fold in three once more. Chill 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, dissolve the sugar in the hot water and leave to cool completely. Whisk in the 3 eggs plus reserved egg, evaporated milk and vanilla. Strain twice through a fine sieve and skim off any foam.
6. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan. Roll the chilled pastry to 3mm and cut 12 rounds slightly larger than your tart tin holes. Press into the tins, thinning the base and pushing the pastry just above the rim.
7. Pour custard into each case to about 90 percent full. Bake 12 minutes, then reduce to 170C/150C fan and bake 10-12 minutes more until the custard is just set with a slight wobble and puffs only slightly.
8. Cool 10 minutes in the tin, then lift out. Best eaten warm the same day.