Coconut Tarts! These are a wonderful little tart, filled with a moist coconut egg custard filling. Great for the family and if you're making these for a party, be sure to make plenty! Freezer friendly too!

Coconut Tarts! Oh my goodness!

If any of you have ever been for Dim Sum in a Chinese eatery or visited a Chinese bakery, you will have seen trays upon trays of these little tarts. They're very popular and if you've tried them before, you will know exactly what I mean!

I always remember as a child going for Dim Sum in Hong Kong and waiting for the trolley to come my way and the lady pushing the trolley to shout out Custard Tarts. Then we could wave our hand in the air to indicate yes! Of course, in the restaurant, you usually get 3 tarts on a plate. Gone in no time!

We would also make these from time to time, and I would sit in the kitchen and help. Back then I was allowed to help with putting the filling in the tart cases and then watching them bake through the oven door. I couldn't wait to eat them!

Chinese often use custard powder in recipes. You can usually buy it from your local grocey store in the baking or desserts section. Otherwise, take a look here at Amazon for custard powder.

I've also put an equivalent for our friends who can't get custard so everyone can make these!

The tarts are moist and delicious eaten warm or cold. I like them both ways!The smells when these little tarts are baking really do make your tummy rumble.

When I baked these yesterday, the tarts didn't get a chance to go on the cooling rack. They were being eaten as fast as I could get them out of the pan. Next time I will make these when I'm on my own at home. That way I can hide a few. Ha!

So I hope you will enjoy these. The recipe is a family one which I have used for many years.

Take a look here if you'd like to try a few more of our Chinese recipes

Instructions

1. Make the pastry. In a mixing bowl, add the melted butter and powdered sugar and mix until combined.

Then add the milk and 6 tablespoons of the beaten egg. Combine. In 2 batches, add the flour.

The mixture will start to get thick so use 2 round-bladed knives and cut through until the mixture resembles lumps as in the photo. 

Then use your hand and gather the pastry together until it becomes one big lump! 

Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge whilst you make the filling below.

2. Make the filling: In a saucepan on low heat, heat the butter, milk, powdered sugar and salt.

Stir until the butter has melted and the mixture starts to simmer. Switch off the heat and add the coconut. Stir well and set aside until cool or around 20 - 30 minutes.

3. Once the coconut filling has cooled, add the 4 beaten eggs PLUS the remainder left from the pastry.

Mix well to combine then add the cream, custard/vanilla pudding powder, vanilla extract, and baking powder. Then cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes so it can firm up a little.

4. Preheat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Make the tarts

Take the pastry from the fridge and knead it slightly so it is pliable.

Then roll out as thin as possible. I divided my pastry into 2 batches so it was manageable on the worktop.

Take a pastry cutter suitable for the size pan you are using and cut discs to fit.

For this recipe, I used 2 regular cupcake pans as you see in the photo.

This yielded 24 tarts. Butter the cupcake pan very well so the pastry does not stick when baking.

5. Place the tart discs into the cupcake pan and gently push down then take a fork and prick holes in the bottom of each pastry disc.

6. Take the filling from the fridge and give it a stir, then fill each cup with the mixture until nearly full.

7. Place in the oven for 15 minutes then switch off the oven and leave the door closed for 10 minutes.

The tarts will continue to brown a little after the oven is off. Then transfer on to a cooling rack. Serve warm or cold with a nice cup of tea!

Sometimes you can get these tarts in the Chinese bakeries with a glace (sugared) cherry on the top. If you wanted to do this, simply pop half a cherry in the center of each tart before baking.

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our post. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

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