Hei Mama Egg Tarts is a very hot recipe among the Chinese bloggers and receive very good ratings. The recipe originates from a Chinese blog by Hei Mama (黑妈妈) posted in year 2009. So that's how its name comes from. Along the years, it has also been modified and adapted by many bloggers and readers. Some of them never give credit to the original recipe!
What I love about these egg tarts is the silky smooth filling! The original recipe did not explain the method of making the tart pastry. I found Angel's version very well explained. She tried 2 methods of making the pastry. The Rub-in Method (cold butter) gives a more buttery and flaky crust, while the Easy Method (melted butter) tastes more crunchy like cookies. I have only tried the rub-in method.
Hei Mama Egg Tarts (makes about 20 tarts)
Filling:
120g sugar
350g water
5 eggs, lightly beaten
100g evaporated milk
1. Heat up water and sugar until sugar dissolves. Leave it to cool.
2. Then add in beaten eggs and evaporated milk. Mix well, sieve the egg mixture and set aside.
Pastry:
300g plain flour
2 tbsp custard powder
2 tbsp milk powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg
200g butter
Rub-in Method (cold butter) (by CBL)
Cut cold butter into small cubes. Combine flour, custard powder and milk powder and mix well. Rub in the cold butter, add sugar, mix well and add beaten egg, mix to form a soft dough (do not knead). Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate before use.
Easy Method (melted butter) (by CBL)
Melt butter. Combine all dry ingredients and mix well, add melted butter and beaten egg. Using a pair of chopsticks mix to form a soft dough. Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate before use.
Method:
1) Divide the pastry dough equally into 20 pieces about 30g each (depending on your mould size). Press the dough into tart moulds evenly.
2) Fill into the tarts till 90% full. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg C for 20 mins.
Recipe from: 黑妈妈 and Cook.Bake.Love