Hong Kong Style Egg Tarts (港式蛋撻) - Cookie base

I haven't found a store in Singapore that sell exactly the same style of egg tarts I used to have in Hong Kong, so today I tried to make this myself at home. I test below recipe and it works. My in-laws also think they are yummy!

Serving size: 16 tarts (each tart is 7 cm diameter x 2 cm height)

Preparation time: 45 minutes (most time spend on spreading the dough on each tin)
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients of custard:
2 eggs      
75ml        Evaporated milk
150g        Hot water
70g          Caster sugar
1/2 tsp    Vanilla extract

Ingredients of crust:
200g        All-purpose / plain flour
25g          Cake flour
125g        Butter
55g          Caster sugar
1 egg       Lightly whisked
A dash vanilla extract


Steps to make the custard fillings:

1. Add sugar into hot water, mix until completely dissolved. Let it cool.
2. Whisk the egg with evaporated milk. Pour in the sugar water and vanilla extract. Mix well.
3. Sift the egg mixture to get rid of any foam into a measuring cup or a tea pot. This make the later pouring into the tart shell easy. Set aside.

Steps to make the crusts:

1. Place butter at room temperature until softened. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer over medium speed until the mixture is smooth, fluffy and light in colour.
2. Add the whisked egg, half at a time. Beat at low speed. Add vanilla extract, mix well.
3. Sift in the 2 type of flours in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions with a spatula. Make sure all ingredients are combined well. Knead into a dough.
4. Roll out the dough into 0.5 cm in thickness. Cut the dough with a tart tin or a cookie cutter which is just a bit smaller than your tin size.
5. Line dough in the middle of the tart tin, one by one. Lightly press the dough with your thumbs, starting from the bottom then up to the sides in circular motions to make an even tart shell. Trim away any excess dough.
6. Preheat oven to 200C / 395F. 
7. Pour the fillings into each tart shell carefully. Place the rack in the lowest level of the oven. Placing the tarts on the lower rack in oven can help to bake the crust bottom properly before the custard gets heat up too quickly. Bake the tarts for about 10-15 minutes until the shell edges are lightly brown.
8. Reduce the heat to 180C / 356F. Observe the tarts and once you see the filling puffing up a bit, open the oven door and leave about 2-3 inches gap. This is to avoid the custard from becoming puffed too high. Otherwise, the custard will collapse once it cools down. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the custard is set.
9. Check the custard by inserting a toothpick. If it can stand on its own, it is cooked.

My Tips:

• Since this is my first time, I divided the ingredients by half to make 8 tarts instead of 16 this round.
• If cake flour is not available, can replace with plain flour, which total 225g.
• Use your thumb to feel the dough thickness in the tart tin. Avoid making it too thick or over cooked.

My comments: Singapore weather is too hot, so my dough was too soft, which I need to spend extra time to have them set in the tart tin.