Tai Cheong Egg Tart Recipe – Tai Cheong is a family-run bakery business based in Singapore and popular in many South Asian countries. The Tai Cheong Egg Tart Recipe is their closely guarded secret. They have been up and running since 1954 and specialize in making the most subtle and excellent egg tarts. Their tarts are famous all over the city, and people seem to keep wanting more of them. They have many dishes to their credit at their cafe cum restaurant, but egg tarts do seem to be the most highly demanded item.
Contents
Tai Cheong Egg Tart Recipe
Countries like Portugal and England have their version of these baked treats, but nothing compared to the craze for the Tai Cheong Egg Tart.
Types of Egg Tart Shells
There are basically two types of shells that the bakery sells:
- Oil and water mixed shell is light and flaky and quite similar to the puff pastry in taste and texture.
- Butter-based shell, which is firmer and sweeter, similar to a cookie.
Ingredients For Tai Cheong Egg Tart Recipe
For Tart Shell
- 140 gm flour
- 1 tbsp confectioner sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ egg white
- 75 gm unsalted butter
For The Filling
- 75 gm superfine sugar
- 75 gm hot water
- 2 eggs, whole
- 125 ml full-fat milk
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
How to prepare Tai Cheong Egg Tart Recipe?
To make the shells for Tai Cheong Egg Tart Recipe
- Cream together the butter and sugar using a stand mixer or handheld one.
- Add in the egg yolk and egg white.
- Add the flour and knead till it forms a soft elastic dough. Ensure not to overwork the dough, or the shells will turn out to be hard and chewy.
- Wrap and chill for 10 – 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Remove the well-chilled dough and divide it into 6 equal-sized portions.
- Form a ball with each of the smaller portions of dough. Use a rolling pin to shape each of the balls into flat circles and line the tart moulds.
- Make sure you press the dough gently into the moulds and raise them on the sides.
- Chill these moulds for 30 more minutes.
To make the filling for Tai Cheong Egg Tart Recipe
- Heat some water and dissolve the confectioner’s sugar into it. Let this mixture rest and cool down before using it again.
- Beat the eggs and add milk, vanilla, and salt to them once they are light and fluffy.
- Add the sugar water to the egg mixture and mix well to combine.
- Sift the egg mixture till it is smooth. This should be done in 2 turns of sifting.
- Pour the mixture into the tart moulds.
- Bake at 180 C for 25 minutes.
Tips that can help you make the Tai Cheong Egg Tarts
- Ensure that you do not replace butter with margarine or anything else, as the shells may not come out as soft as expected. Mandatorily use butter to make the shells.
- Use chilled butter to make the shells. Squeeze, press, and push movements should help you incorporate the butter into the flour well.
- Once you have flattened the dough and are ready to put them into the mould, dust them with a bit of four to stick onto the mould better.
- Build the dough a little higher once you line the moulds. This will make demolding the tarts easier, and they will be able to hold more filling too.
- Fill the tarts till they are about 90% full, as the egg mixture might expand slightly while baking.
- Once you see the egg mixture slightly puffed up in the oven, you will know that the tarts are done. Crank the oven door open and leave the tarts inside for a further 5 minutes with the oven door ajar. This helps to lower the temperature of the tarts gradually and prevents cracking of the top of the egg custard.
- Let the tarts sit in the moulds and cool for a further 15-20 minutes so that they do not crack while being unmoulded. If you find a tart stuck to its mould, try to gently nudge it out with a sharp knife or a toothpick.
- Every oven has a different heating system and different temperatures. So use an oven thermometer if you want to be sure that your tarts are baking at the right temperature.
Summary
And that’s a wrap on our Tai Cheong Egg Tart recipe! We hope you enjoyed making and eating these delicious tarts. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out. Until next time, happy baking and enjoy your Tai Cheong Egg Tarts!