egg tarts

Using ready-to-bake frozen tart shells for this recipe was very convenient and must have cut the preparation time by half. There are eight tart shells in a box. I actually followed the recipe I got from a cookbook, Classic Asian Cakes and Desserts, but the filling was too much for the eight tart shells, so I had to make some additional flan for the excess. However, I’m pretty sure reducing the filling recipe by half will just be enough for the eight tart shells.

TART FILLING ( good for 16 tart shells )
4 eggs
1 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp salt
2 ½ cups milk ( fresh milk or combined with evaporated )
1 tsp vanilla or lemon flavoring
With a wire whisk, beat the eggs well and incorporate the sugar and the salt. Gradually blend in the milk and vanilla. Pour the mixture through a sieve directly into the tart shells and fill just below the edge. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 30 mins. The baked tarts didn’t come out as deep yellow as in the photo in the cookbook, nor like the ones that are sold in Oriental bakeshops. They must have added some yellow food coloring to those commercial ones. The filling also turned out lighter than I expected. Anyway, the result was just as good.