Recipe – Bean Curd Tarts ( REALLY AWESOME )

I have been wanting to make egg tart for the longest time. After researching on the recipe, I have found Hei Mama’s egg tart recipe which is very popular among bakers. On the day when I wanted to bake, I was watching a TV show and they were featuring Le Cafe’s Bean Curd Tart. So the idea came! I want to bake BEAN CURD TARTS instead!

As many of you know, Le Cafe’s bean curd tart is the first in Singapore. The silky smooth soya bean filling is encased in a thin cup of delicious pastry. I read about the interview of Le Cafe and they go all the way from grounding their own soy beans and almond together. But I didn’t have the time to do it, so I used my beancurd pudding recipe as my tart filling.

This is my first time making a tart base and I have absolutely no idea how to do it right. Thankfully for the guidance from Cook.Bake.Love, she shared two ways in making the tart.

First is to use the rub-in method, which is what I did. You basically have to rub your cold butter into the other ingredients. The end results is more flaky and moist. Another way is to just mix the melted butter into other ingredients. What you get, according to Cook.Bake.Love, is a more crispy texture.

For normal egg tarts, you can just pour the egg filling into the tart and bake it together. But for my case, I just wanted to bake the tart base by itself and pour the soya bean after that. However, my first few tart base turned out very dry. I quickly went online to read on some tips to bake tarts. Lesson learnt: to put aluminum foil and dry beans to cover the base of the tart.

The recipe says to divide the mould evenly to the same weight, roll it into a ball and press it evenly to the mould. I also have difficulty with that because my base is definitely thicker than the sides. Lesson learnt: It is better to roll the mould into a sheet about 5mm thick and use a bigger round cookie cutter to cut out the shape before placing on the tart mould. Make the tart as thin as possible.

There are just too many techniques that need to be learnt when making the tart base. What I baked here is not the perfect tart base, but the combination of my bean curd pudding and the tart is perfect.

Recipe – Bean Curd Tarts

Pastry (makes 10-12 8cm tart)
150g plain flour
1 tbsp custard powder
1 tbsp milk powder
½ tbsp sugar
½ egg
100g butter

Rub-in Method:
1. Cut cold butter into small cubes.
2. Combine flour, custard powder and milk powder and mix well.
3. Rub in the cold butter.
4. Add sugar, mix well and add beaten egg, mix to form a soft dough.
5. Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight before use.
6. Roll the pastry dough into sheet (about 5mm thick) and use a round cookie cutter to cut out the shape before placing on the tart mould.
7. Bake in preheated oven at 180 degree celsius for 20 mins.

Filling
30g of ‘Polleney’ Soya Bean Milk Powder
15g of ‘Unisoy’ Soya Bean Milk Powder
350ml of water
15g of sugar to taste (not required if using carton-ed Soya Bean Milk)
8g of Phoon Huat’s instant jelly powder

Method:
1. Stir all the soya bean milk powder together. Sieve.
2. Heat the soya milk in low heat till its hot. DO NOT BOIL.
3. Stir in sugar till it is fully dissolved.
4. Stir in instant jelly powder for about a minute till it is fully dissolved.
5. Pour the soya bean into each tart till 90% full. Allow it to cool.
6. Refrigerate overnight. Enjoy.

Maureen

Born into a family of enthusiastic foodies, Maureen has always loved all things culinary, especially the local cuisine here in Singapore. With a life-long fascination with the rapidly evolving food scene in Singapore, she started this website in 2007 to explore and celebrate all types of local Singapore dishes and to share her love of travel and food with the world. With 4 years of experience as a journalist and producer, she has a wealth of experience in food writing, photography and styling.