Dan Tat (蛋撻) aka egg tarts!

One of my favorite dim sum items is "dan tat". "Dan tat" is literally translated to egg tart. It is basically a pastry shell filled with a smooth, sweet egg custard. The pastry shell can be light, crispy, and flaky, similar to a puff pastry; or more dense and heavy like a shortcrust typically used for pies and tarts. I've noticed over the years that the crust has changed over time and seems to adjust according to how traditional or nontraditional a restaurant is; and if they have someone with the ability to make the crust from scratch. It is traditionally known to be a Cantonese baked good, but I've also seen Portuguese and Macau style egg tarts. Each kind having its own distinction. They even have flavored ones now like green tea egg tarts!

Cantonese style egg tarts during brunch in Los Angeles. I do not remember the name of the restaurant, but it was a traditional dim sum restaurant with the steaming carts full of goodies.

 Portuguese style egg tarts. This was at very non-traditional dim sum restaurant where they served dim sum straight from the kitchen and not from those carts.

My parents came to visit me this weekend, and my dad's first request..."will you make dan tat?!"

I've figured out how to make the egg custard part, but haven't attempted making the crust from scratch yet. I use store bought pie crust instead. I use a wine glass to cut out circles from the pie crust which I then roll out to make them thinner. They are pressed into a muffin tray. I then make the egg custard using this recipe that I've adapted from different recipes online:

Preheat the oven to 350-375 degrees.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/4 cup evaporated milk
 <1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Scramble the eggs.
2. Then add the milk and mix thoroughly.
3. A trick to making sure everything is incorporated is to add the water in parts. Add half first, mix, then add the rest, and mix again.
4. I used two different types of sugars because the powdered sugar dissolves more easily, so it's added after the regular sugar, which then has more time to dissolved. Add the regular sugar first, before the powdered sugar.
5. Add the vanilla extract.
6. Pour the mixture through a sieve to remove any egg that didn't completely mix. The sieve helps to make sure your mixture is homogenized and that the custard will be smooth after baking.
7. Carefully pour the mixture into the pressed crusts in the muffin tin.

Bake for approximately 20-30 mins. or until the center is set.

This recipe makes 12 egg tarts. 

I really like these straight out of the oven when they're still warm. The next time I make these, I will attempt to make the crust from scratch. Wish me luck! I'll let you know how they turn out.