Egg Tarts with Brown Sugar Boba
As a someone with a strong savory tooth, there aren't a lot of desserts out there that I normally crave or seek out for. Therefore, every time I find a dessert I love, I tend to always gravitate back towards them.
While my list is small, boba and egg tarts are high on that list. I can never go to a dim sum restaurant and NOT order egg tarts. Similarly, I can never walk by a boba shop and NOT consider ordering a boba drink!
So why am I bringing up these two desserts in particular? Well, recently I noticed a new trend in adding boba to egg tarts! I originally thought of it to be an unlikely duo at first. However, thinking about it more, boba is relatively neutral enough where I think it could be paired with many unexpected desserts. If you think about it, it's really just an added texture (a great one, to emphasize).
In some of the examples I saw, boba was being added to a tart with a milk tea custard (rather than egg). While this rendition of the classic milk tea seemed interesting to me, my cravings still gravitated towards my love for traditional egg tarts. For that reason, I decided to try simply merging boba with egg tarts instead.
This took a lot of love and labor to make (more so because I'm very mediocre when it comes baking). With that said, this turned out pretty darn tasty! For a more adventurous eater, I think you can repurpose this recipe and change up the custard as you'd like. Perhaps by adding tea flavors (such as black tea or matcha tea)!
Hope you enjoy this #eggsperiment with me!
Kitchen tools you'll need: dessert torch, round cookie cutter, strainer, parchment paper, roller (or feel free to improvise with existing items you already have).
Egg Tarts with Brown Sugar Boba
Prep Time: 45 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Yields 12
Pastry Dough Ingredients:
1.5 cups cake flour
Substitution option: You can also use all-purpose flour and cornstarch. For every 1 cup, remove 2 tbsp of flour and replace with cornstarch.
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
Water
Additional unsalted butter (for greasing)
Filling Ingredients
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs (beaten)
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
~1/4 cup brown sugar
~3/4 cup boba
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Pastry Dough Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and salt. Then add in unsalted butter. Loosely mix all ingredients together with spatula and/or your hands. If dough is too dry, add in a tablespoon of water (or more as needed). If dough becomes too wet, sprinkle in more flour as needed. The dough does not need to be perfectly smooth, but it should be evenly textured. Wrap with plastic wrap in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Filling Directions:
While dough is being chilled, start on the filling. In a small pot, boil 3/4 water an sugar until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let the liquid cool down.
Once sugar water is cooled, add in beaten eggs, evaporated milk, and vanilla extra. Whisk all ingredients together. Using a strainer, pour egg mixture through. If needed, use whisk to stir liquid to help push egg mixture through the strainer. Set aside.
Make your boba by following instructions on the packaging. Once boba is done, mix in about 4 tbsp water and 2 tbsp brown sugar. Set aside.
Assembly Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Oven rack should be placed in the middle of the oven.
Have your individual tins or muffin pan ready. Grease with unsalted butter.
Take pastry dough out of the fridge and plastic wrap. Divide dough into smaller portions (about 4 should do). Place parchment paper over the dough and then using roller to flatten the dough. Use a round cookie cutter to cut dough (it should be big enough to fit your tins. Place cut dough into your tin or muffin pan. Press the dough down to shape it into the tin, and cover up any cracks. Repeat for all dough portions until you are out of dough.
Note: If you do not have a round cookie cutter, find a similar object you can repurpose. I used a ramekin to cut.
Then, start filling your tins with your egg mixture. You should only fill to barely reach the top of the dough.
Add about 3-4 boba balls into each egg mixture.
Place your tins or muffin pans into the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes (or until pastry edges are crisp and golden, and egg mixture texture becomes jello-like).
Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Then carefully transfer egg tarts to serving tray or plates.
Add a small spoonful of brown sugar to the top of each egg tart (about 1/8 tsp). Use a dessert torch to lightly sear the brown sugar and around the crust.
Note: If you do not have a dessert torch, you can consider adding brown sugar to the top layer of your egg custard about 5-8 minutes before you remove from oven.
Top off with remaining boba. Serve warm.
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