This is the first summer in a lot of summers that I didn't spend in China.
I love China and all, but the novelty wears off after the first week or so...
And that's when I start being a really big brat.
For the remaining two or three months, I throw a couple of temper tantrums, demand McDonald's cheeseburgers instead of another round of Chinese food, and I Google "fun places in whatevercityIamin" which for the most part gets me nowhere.
After a couple of years of this, my sneaky family found a trick.
They started buying me stuff from Chinese bakeries - this stuff is really good.
My favorite of the bunch (other than iced chocolate macchiatos from 85degrees) is Portuguese egg tartlets.
The crust is flaky, buttery, delightful. The filling is light and subtly sweet.
My mom and I baked some yesterday and they are seriously so easy to make!
Recipe:
We cheated and used Dutch Ann's mini pie crusts, but you can be cool and make your go-to pastry puff/phyllo dough based crust!
Makes 8 servings.
For the filling:
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups half and half
3 drops of vanilla (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk the eggs and sugar until combined and starting to froth up a little.
Add the half and half and gently whisk until everything is a very pale buttery color.
Pour into the pie shells.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned and the filling starts to "puff up" just a little. (Don't worry, they sink back down!)
Pat yourself on the back.
Most people like eating it fresh and hot, but I like refrigerating the tartlets for a few hours. You can also serve with fruit - yum!
PS. These are mostly called Portuguese egg tarts, but I find the Portuguese ones to be more caramelized, and I associate these with China anyways, so I called them Hong Kong Egg Tartlets. Tomayto-tomahto.
PPS. I'm usually pretty friendly most of the time in China. Especially if I am allowed to go someplace new or do something out of the ordinary hanging-out-in-the-apartment-ish.
PPPS. If you do happen to go to China, the bakeries are a must! My favorites are 85degrees and Christine's Bakery, which I know are quite common in the Shanghai/Nanjing area.
PPPPS. Love ya. Have a great Monday!
