From Solo Lisa's Kitchen: Apple Pie And Egg Tarts



My latest culinary experiments are both pastry-related. The apple pie pictured above is a test run pie for the one that I later made and brought to a friend's house for Thanksgiving dinner. For the crust, I used a simple pastry recipe from Everyday Food magazine that was published for a blueberry pie. Since I didn't have a satisfactory apple pie filling recipe on hand, I "consulted" Epicurious before deciding to wing it. The pastry on the test run pie turned out perfectly, but the filling needed a few tweaks. In the end the pie for the dinner turned out pretty well. One person said he liked a crust, and another person said the filling reminded her of apple sauce ("a good thing because I like apple sauce"). Hey, I'll take any compliment I can get! By the way, if you're curious about the secrets to a rich, flaky pastry, here they are: A pastry cutter. Cold butter and lots of it. Ice water added a little at a time. Don't overmix your ingredients.



So after figuring out pastry, it was on to Chinese egg tarts, a beloved dessert in my household. To make these, I used a jar lid to cut circles of pastry out and plopped them into a mini muffin pan. Then I followed this recipe to make the custard filling. Like the apple pie, it took two tries to get these right. The first time I made the mistake of greasing the muffin pan before putting the pastry in, which resulted in really buttery, greasy tarts. The second time I just put the pastry straight in, and while it still turned out very buttery and rich, the butter wasn't overwhelming and the tarts didn't feel as greasy. Despite the snafus and the fact that they look more like mini egg custard hockey pucks than tarts, my family loved them. Each batch has lasted less than two days, tops.

16 comments

  1. I LOVE Chinese egg tarts. I had so many when I went to Macau.

    Good work Lisa! Both look yummy.

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  2. When we were little, my mom, little sister and I use to always make Chinese egg tarts-- trays and trays of them... it was one of our favorite activities together (and also wrapping wontons). They always came up so delicious too. That was when we were living in Saskatchewan but now that we live in Vancouver and there are Chinese bakeries on every corner, we just buy them now...

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  3. Those egg tarts look AMAZING!!! The first and only time I ever attempted making them from scratch was in Home Ec in high school! This makes me want to give it another go. Deliciousss!

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  4. I love your passion for cooking! The pie looks delicious, although I've never had egg tarts before. I guess I'll have to try them :)

    Xo Chelle
    discoveringelegance.com

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  5. Mmm, those both look so good! I love how you made the top of the pie so cute-like. I guess you used the extra bits of pastry and then sliced the holes for the steam between them? Very cool. I always just throw out the extra bits, I'll have to remember to use them this way next time!

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  6. This recipe is going to make my weekend! THANK YOU. I *love* Chinese egg tarts. Actually.. the Portguese egg tarts (from Taiwan) are even better tho.

    Your apple pie looks yum!

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  7. OMG - egg tarts!! How fun that you made them! I would never even think about trying to make one...good for you!

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  8. egg tarts are my fav dessert, hands down. I eat like 3 of them in one sitting LOL

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  9. i love chinese egg tarts! looking at them made me smile

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  10. wow amazing job with the pie and egg tarts. Egg tarts are like my fave asian pastry...especially the portuguese style egg tarts

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  11. Awesome job! They both look delicious!

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  12. Yum, two of my most favorite things! Thanks for posting the egg tart recipe. I am crazy about egg tarts and try to grab some whenever we go out for dim sum. It would be great to make them at home.

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  13. DROOL! Sounds like the egg tarts were a hit! I've never thought to try making them myself, but this post is quite encouraging - I may have to give it a try!

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  14. Major cravings for egg tarts right now!!! They look amazing.. mine always turn out deflated for some reason! will need more cooking tips from you :)

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  15. omgthose egg tarts look incredible!! yummy!!

    i never bake butnow i should really reconsider.

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