Mini Dan Ta

You must know by now that it's springtime. Okay, so it may already be borderline summertime, but I haven't written a proper spring post yet.

Springtime brings new growth in the form of plants and love. From my experience, I can agree with that. Seven years ago during Spring Break, Tim and I started dating. Two years ago, we got married in the spring. Just this month there were two engagements among my friends (Congrats Rich+Tonnie! Congrats Yedeh+Quyen!), and we've already attended three weddings this year.

Last weekend, I attended a college friend's lovely bridal shower upstate in Beacon, and thinking about bridal showers made me realize I never posted the dan ta recipe I made for Tina's bridal shower. Oh, the horror! You can imagine me hitting myself like Dobby for going against the master that is blogging. Not really, but Harry Potter's been on my mind for whatever reason.

I made mini dan ta for Tina's bridal shower because she loves circles and the color yellow. She also makes delicious dan ta, but ironically her husband does not eat eggs (along with many other things). I've eaten many, many dan ta in my life, but this was my first time making them, and I was pleased with their ease. In the future, I'd like to try using lard for the tart shell in place of butter to attain that super flaky texture. How dangerously delicious would that be?


Mini Dan Ta (Chinese Egg Tart)
adapted from various sources

Tart Shell Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
pinch of salt

Egg Custard Ingredients:
4 cups milk
5 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
2. Mix in the butter until reaching a crumbly mixture.
3. Stir in egg and mix until forming a dough.
4. Shape dough into 1/2 inch balls, flattening each ball into tart mold (or mini muffin pan). Be sure to cover the bottom and shape dough against the sides of the mold so that dough is higher than the sides.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Combine all custard ingredients into a medium saucepan over low heat.
7. Whisk custard gently until all sugar is dissolved.
8. Strain egg custard through a sieve and let cool.
9. Fill the tart shells with the egg custard to be 3/4 full.
10. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
11. Let cool slightly and remove from molds before serving.