蛋撻 - HONG KONG TARTS

Sometimes you stick to your decisions and bake some greatly anticipated Hong Kong egg(less) tarts for KT's Cake Wednesday at the office; but some other times you change your mind or allow yourself to make exceptions or apply for train ticket refunds or cancel plans or abort missions or all of the above.

Either way, risks may or may not include the loudest fire alarms going off for ten long minutes and getting kicked out of your flat on your third day there, your baked goods tasting alright, not owning a laptop charger ever again, throwing a great amount of pounds sterling down the drain, black eyes, drama and general hatred, not being invited for dinner and no chance in the universe of un-rendering what you have decided to render.

But when life is too short for Nescafe (although it's never too short to make your own pastry), what you have to do is assemble all your troops, get hold of the biggest Moka pot you can find and have a bite of risk on toast for breakfast. 
All in due course, that is.

HONG KONG TARTS

165g (1 ¼ cups) plain flour

60g (1/4 cup) margarine, cold

60g (1/4 cup) vegetable fat, cold

1 tablespoon caster sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons water, ice cold

Filling:

285ml (1 cup + 3 tablespoons) canned coconut milk

285ml (1 cup + 3 tablespoons) soya milk or other non-dairy milk

35g (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) custard powder

100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar and salt. Add the margarine and vegetable fat and cut them into the flour mixture using a fork until it gets all crumbly. Place the bowl in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Take it out and add the ice cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough sticks together. Knead for a minute then form it into a ball, wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Once the dough has chilled, roll it out onto a floured surface and cut out as many circles as you can. Press the dough circles into foil cases/lightly greased muffin tins then if you like decorate the edges of each pastry case pressing them down gently with a fork. Place in the fridge whilst you prepare the custard filling.

Mix coconut milk and soya milk together until combined. In a separate bowl mix a couple of tablespoons of the milk mixture with the custard powder and sugar into a smooth paste. Heat the remaining milk over medium heat. When it starts simmering, pour in the custard mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Bring to a gentle boil whisking continuously, then remove from the heat and leave to cool stirring every few minutes to prevent a skin from forming.

In the meantime preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). When the custard filling has cooled, pour even amounts into each pastry case and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry turns golden brown. Leave on a rack to cool completely so that the custard filling firms up. Enjoy with a cup of espresso, no milk.