Iron Chef Shellie
 

Coconut & Pandan Custard Tarts

I've renamed these "crack tarts" cos you won't be able to stop at just one, or two... or three!

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Recipes

Coconut & Pandan Custard Tarts
February 12, 2013
Recipes

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Coconut & Pandan Custard Tarts

Aka; Crack Tarts.

For Chinese New Year dinner I had made a lychee and coconut jelly, but it looked like vomit so I decided it be best not to serve it! I wanted to make something else but didn’t want to spend ages in the kitchen, or make a trip to the shops.

Luckily I found this recipe and made a batch. Sadly the only thing “coconut” about these tarts was the coconut on top. Lame Donna Hay… so lame. Anyway, I made them with vanilla paste and they were a epic hit. The next morning I had a brain wave, what if I made them really coconutty… and substitute vanilla for Asian vanilla; pandan. I took the results to my friends and they were even more of an epic hit. “Insanely good” and “addictive” were the comments I got back, and I couldn’t agree more.

Thanh made a batch after asking for the recipe with the pandan paste tonight and they turned out bright green! It would be a great Halloween dessert 😛 I’ll be doing them green the next time I think, although I might freak a few people out!

So what are you waiting for? Get some crack tart in ya! It won’t take you long in the kitchen at all, and they are amazing warm out of the oven, and cold!

Coconut & Pandan Custard Tarts
Adapted from Donna Hay’s coconut custard tart recipe

2 sheets ready-prepared puff pastry (preferably Borg’s)
1½ tablespoons caster sugar
½ cup full fat coconut milk
 Â½ cup full fat thickened cream
1 egg
1 egg yolk
¼ cup caster sugar
¾ teaspoon pandan essence (or pandan paste if you want green tarts)
1 cup shredded coconut, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced, 355°F). Use a 6cm cookie cutter to cut into 24 rounds of pastry. You might need to clump together the offcuts, and roll them into a layer to cut the extras.

2. Lightly grease a 24-hole mini muffin tin, sprinkle with sugar and line with the pastry rounds.

3. Heat the milk and cream in a small saucepan over low heat until hot (not boiling). Place the egg, egg yolk, sugar and pandan essence/paste in a bowl and whisk until thick and pale.

4. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Pour the custard mixture into the tart shells and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the egg is set.

5. Leave to cool and sprinkle with the coconut to serve.

Makes 24.

Comments

18 comments on “Coconut & Pandan Custard Tarts
  1. Daisy@Nevertoosweet

    OMG these sound SO DAMN GOOD 🙂 I love coconut and pandan!! LOL I loved how you described it as Asian vanilla ~ Where can I get pandan essence? Can’t wait to try making these!

    February 12, 2013 at 10:16 pm
  2. leaf (the indolent cook)

    Ahhh, I want! These would be awesome for any time, but particularly Chinese New Year!

    February 13, 2013 at 12:03 am
  3. Thanh

    I’m so glad you made them and I got to try the improved version. Now I can make them all the time. So easy and so amazing. Great work.

    February 13, 2013 at 8:28 am
  4. GourmetGetaways

    Oh I would have loved to have some of these fresh out of the oven! Delish!
    I haven’t had them for years!
    Maybe I will just have to make them myself 😉

    February 13, 2013 at 10:30 am
  5. Tina @ bitemeshowme

    They looked so good on instagram. Thanks for sharing. I want to make these!!!

    February 14, 2013 at 9:43 am
  6. Tina @ bitemeshowme

    btw… i was just reading the recipe..

    3.Heat the milk and cream in a small saucepan over low heat until hot (not boiling). Place the egg, egg yolk, sugar and pandan essence/paste in a bowl and whisk until thick and pale.

    Do you then mix the heated milk and cream with the paste in the bowl? sorry. noob right here.

    February 14, 2013 at 9:47 am
    • Iron Chef Shellie

      Omg I forgot a step! Yes will fix it now :))) thanks!!

      February 14, 2013 at 9:44 pm
  7. April

    These were so good cold, I can just imagine how much better they would be hot & crispy straight from the oven! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    February 14, 2013 at 1:53 pm
  8. Agnes

    You’ll be the next DH. But better!

    February 16, 2013 at 8:18 pm
  9. Winston

    Hey cooool! Didn’t realise it’s so simple to make I’m going to try and make these next weekend, woo hoo! Love puff pastry anything.

    February 16, 2013 at 9:17 pm
  10. Kelly

    Pandan and coconut are such great combination! Hooray to improving a DH recipe!

    February 19, 2013 at 11:46 pm
  11. Sara @bellyrumbles

    Oh hello crack tarts…. now my new drug of choice. Ummm, okay, not that I had a drug of choice before hand, but if I did, it would be gone and replaced by these beauties.

    February 20, 2013 at 1:08 am
  12. Libby

    Oh my goodness, yum! I love coconut and pandan (and Borg’s puff pastries FTW!). I’d probably go the pandan essence too as the green would freak the rest of the house out. Thanks for sharing – I know what I’ll be making in my next Sunday baking session!

    February 20, 2013 at 12:10 pm
  13. Yasmeen @ Wandering Spice

    Ohhhh yes. What a divine sounding combination – love both coconut and pandan. Must now run down to the shop to get pandan extract.

    Any reason you prefer Borg’s in particular? Either way I will definitely be trying this. Something new for me!

    February 21, 2013 at 9:33 am
    • Iron Chef Shellie

      It’s just the one that I bought and used. Thanh kept saying it was amazing and what brand is it as he can’t get Pampas to flake up as nice as the Borgs does!

      February 22, 2013 at 12:07 pm
  14. Ling

    Again lah.. you keep making me feel worse and worse for my asian cooking fails.
    LOL

    February 22, 2013 at 10:17 am
  15. Nic@diningwithastud

    YUM!!! These look soo good! I havent had sugar all week and Im having withdrawls lol

    February 22, 2013 at 3:31 pm
  16. msihua

    These crack tarts were so good! I’m addicted!

    March 2, 2013 at 6:02 pm
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Shellie Froidevaux

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