Portuguese Egg Custard Tarts Recipe

My ex-manager, Joao, is Portuguese and from the day he came to know that I love baking, he's been asking me to bake some Portuguese egg tarts. It sounded daunting but to be fair, I didn't even do a search for Portuguese egg tarts before deciding that in my mind. As he continued telling me how delicious they are and couldn't be more different from the Chinese Egg Tarts, I said I would try baking the Portuguese version if he could bring some for me from Portugal. He agreed.

And then he went and made it happen. A few months after this conversation, he actually brought some egg tarts from back home and I tried them. They were custardy, sweet, and true to his word, delicious.

I had no more excuses to not bake some Portuguese egg tarts and the best opportunity came up when a bunch of were going to visit Joao and Ruth's baby, Luke.

Imagine baking Portuguese egg tarts for the first time for a Portuguese. Go ahead, imagine that. Jitterville!

I did it and I got a huge thumbs up from Joao. He even said a lot of people in Singapore would be willing to pay for these. Hmmm...

Portuguese Egg Custard Tarts
Adapted from Not Quite Nigella
Makes 12

Ingredients:
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar (I would use slightly lesser than this next time)
2 tbsp cornflour
400ml full cream milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 block of puff pastry sheet

How I Made Them: 

1. Grease a muffin tray and pre heat oven to 200C.

2. Place the egg yolks, sugar, and cornflour in a pan and whisk together until well combined. Slowly add in the milk and mix well with no lumps.

3. Place the pan over a medium heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and comes to the boil. Let it simmer for 2-3 mins, then remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.

4. Transfer the custard to a bowl, cover, and let it cool.

5. Thaw the puff pastry sheet and roll to about 1/2" thickness on a floured surface. Roll it from the width-side tightly and cut into small discs. Roll each disc (flouring the surface sufficiently) to the rough size of the muffin tray.

6. Lay each rolled out disc into the muffin tray, pour the cooled custard to about 3/4 level and bake for about 25 mins.

The custard will bubble up during baking, don't worry! The top of the egg tart should have brownish black patches for that authentic Portuguese egg tart look!

Sprinkle with cinnamon powder and serve warm. 

What is Agra Panchhi Petha? (With Recipe)

This post is about 5 months too late. When we visited Delhi-Agra-Jaipur during Chinese New Year, this is one thing I definitely wanted to buy back - Panchhi Petha. Its nothing but cubed ash gourd simmered in sugar syrup and cooled down. Its extremely sweet and juicy when bitten into.

When I went to the same places while in school, we gorged on this super sweet Agra specialty without even knowing what it is or how its made (not that it mattered, especially at that age). I had forgotten whether its available in Jaipur or Agra so during our first stop which was at Jaipur, I asked our guide about it. He had absolutely no clue what we were talking about!

When we came to Agra, our guide immediately cut us short when we began explaining what we were looking for and took us straight to the very popular store called Panchhi which is probably one of the best places that sells "original" petha.

When we were at the railway station waiting for our train back to Delhi, I chanced upon Vanitha in a bookstore and it was a freakish coincidence because that edition had a bit about Lakshmi Nair (the now famous cook that comes in some shows in Asianet) visiting Agra and even a recipe for Agra Petha! I am reproducing it here, in English.

Agra Petha Recipe
Source: Vanitha, Feb 1-14 2011 Edition

Ingredients:
500gm ash gourd / kumbalanga
500gm sugar
Water as needed
1 tsp slaked lime / chunnambu
Saffron strands, optional

Method:

1. Peel and deseed ash gourd and cut into cubes.

2. Add the slaked lime to 2 litres of water and mix well. Add the ash gourd pieces into this and set aside for 2 hours.

3. Rinse the soaked ash gourd 2-3 times in clean water. Poke each piece a few times with a fork.

4. Boil the sugar with 1 cup water. When it begins to thicken, add the ash gourd pieces (and saffron if using) and bring to boil, then simmer for 3-4 mins.

5. Drain from the syrup and lay to cool and dry on a flat plate.

Note: I didn't make the petha in the pics. They are from the Panchhi petha shop in Agra. I just wanted to share the recipe that I saw in Vanitha, that's all. 

Eggless No-Bake Mango Cheesecake Recipe

I have taken pictures at every stage of this recipe and I am going to force you to look at them. This does not mean this is not an easy recipe. I mean, this is cheesecake you don't need to bake. It really doesn't get easier than that. Round up your ingredients and let's get started.



You are going to need graham crackers for the base. I got some from the US because I really really love graham crackers but if you don't have any handy, go with digestive biscuits, marie biscuits, or even Oreos.



Give them a whiz in your food processor to turn into crumbs. You can even put them into a ziplock and use a rolling pin to smash them into small pieces. I always take the easy way out, especially when the end result won't show much difference anyway.



Time to pour in some melted better.



Give the mixture another whiz so that the base becomes moist and crumbly, just the way we want it. At this time, I urge you to smell this mixture. I swear it already smells a bit like cheesecake!



Now, you can go many routes. Use an 8" springform pan if you want one full cake which you can later slice up. I decided to set them in individual glasses and picked out whatever I had in hand. This will make serving much easier, especially if you are making this for a small party or something. Also looks infinitely prettier.



Spoon some into each glass and press firmly with the back of a spoon or fingertips. Leave this in the refrigerator while the rest of the cheesecake is prepared.



Mix well together the cream cheese, sugar, and cream. You can do this with a whisk by hand since you are not going to beat it much, just until it all comes together. I used my Kitchenaid for the job.



Time to bring out the gelatine. This is our setting agent, since this is a no-bake cheesecake recipe. You can also use china grass, I am sure, but I haven't tried it with that. If you want to go that route, I would recommend starting with 5gm and following the rest of the steps as mentioned here.

Dissolve 1 tbsp gelatine in hot water.



Mix this into the mango puree. I used canned mango puree but if you have fresh mangoes that you want to use up (lucky you!), then go for that, please. Make sure the mango puree is well combined with the gelatine mixture.

Reserve half and pour the rest into the cream cheese mixture. Incorporate well. This is our middle layer or the main part of the cheesecake. How easy was that?



Bring out the glasses from the fridge and spoon the cheesecake mixture into each, until about 3/4th full. Return to fridge for atleast 10 mins. I took them out in about 15 mins or so.

Once the cheesecake has set a bit in the fridge, pour the reserved mango-gelatine mixture gently on top of the cheesecake. If you don't do the refrigerating bit after you pour in the cheesecake, that will blend into the top layer that you are pouring in now so its important to let the cheesecake mixture set for a bit.

That's it! Refrigerate overnight or atleast 6-8 hours for a delicious dessert.

Full credit for this recipe goes to my classmate from school, Swetha and her cousin. She emailed me this recipe long back and I had kept it starred for ages. Glad I got around to finally making it. This is an easy dessert that makes you look really good for making it, just the kind I love!

Here's the recipe, all in one place.

Eggless No-Bake Mango Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients:
Cream cheese - 1 block (250gm, Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
Cream - 170 gm (I used Nestle)
Sugar - Half a cup
Mango puree - 3/4 of a cup
Gelatine - 1 Tbsp
Hot Water - 1/4 cup
Graham cracker crumbs - 1.5 to 2 cups (Depending on how thick you want the base to be)
Unsalted butter, melted - 75 gm (about 1/3 of a cup)

How I Made It:

1. Whiz the graham crackers in a food processor. Add melted butter and whiz again until the mixture comes together. Press into the bottom of an 8" springform pan that's lined with aluminium foil or use individual glasses. Refrigerate while preparing the rest of the cheesecake.

2. Mix the cream cheese, cream, and sugar in a bowl until well combined. You can do it by hand or use low speed on your Kitchenaid. An electric beater is not needed.

3. Add the gelatine to the hot water and stir till it completely dissolves. Add the mango puree and stir well. Keep half of this mixture aside and add the rest to the cream cheese mixture. Stir gently until well combined.

4. Pour on top of the graham cracker base. Return to fridge for another 10-30 mins.

5. Pour the mango mixture as the third layer. Do this gently so that the layers don't combine. If you use a springform pan, the top layer will be much thinner, as it should be.

6. Refrigerate overnight and get ready to serve a yummy dessert at your party that can be prepared well in advance!

The Best Banana Cake Recipe Ever! (With Cream Cheese Frosting)

I tasted this banana cake for the first time when I was in Sydney. I have a colleague there who loves baking almost as much as I do and she bakes cakes for people in her team very often. She brought this banana cake and a flourless chocolate cake the day I landed. They were both divine.

Australians love their banana bread. Its a staple in all coffee shops - thick slabs of banana bread often served toasted with butter. Ah, bliss.



The moment I had my first taste of this cake, I decided I not only want the recipe, but I want the book it came in as well. I asked her to bring it in the next day and ordered it online the same day. It reached home to Singapore before I did.



I made it exactly the same way mentioned in the book the first time. It tasted wonderful - quite dense, sweet, deliciously banana-ey. The cream cheese frosting was the perfect indulgence along with the humble banana backing. The beauty of this cake is, it can be entirely made in a food processor, if you have one. I have an immersion hand blender that has a processor/chopper which worked perfectly. If not, you can just use your hand-help whisk or electric beater to bring the batter together. If I had a blender, I would have tried mixing this cake in it.

The second time around, I decided to make it less sweet with no frosting, perfect for breakfast or to carry in a tiffin box to school, work, or a picnic.

The Most Fabulous Banana Cake Recipe
Adapted from: Mix and Bake by Belinda Jeffery 
Makes 12 large pieces

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (110gm) plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 very ripe large banana (about 1/2 to 3/4 cups when mashed)
3/4 cup granulated sugar (regular white sugar)
1 egg
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter, at room temperature
50ml sour cream (or buttermilk as in original recipe)
1 tsp vanilla extract

For Frosting (optional - you can just dust with icing sugar too):

125gm cream cheese, cut into chunks, at room temperature
1/4 cup (4 tbsp butter), cut into chunks, at room temperature
3/4 cup (150gm) icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

How I Made It:

1. Preheat oven to 350F / 180C. Grease a 9" cake pan or a brownie pan like I used. This size is actually for the recipe which I have halved here so you can only make a thin single layered cake if you use a 9" pan. Try a smaller pan if you want to frost the cake in layers.

2. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and soda into the food processor and whiz them together for about 15-20 seconds. Tip into a bowl and set aside. If mixing by hand, just put everything into a bowl and blend together using a whisk or a fork.

3. Chop the banans into the food processor next and whiz into a pulp. Make sure the banana is really really ripe. Again, you can do this by hand using a fork or potato masher, in a separate bowl.



4. Add the sugar and egg to the mashed banana and whiz for another minute. Then add the butter and whiz for another minute until the mixture is thick and creamy. (Cream together for about 5 mins if doing by hand).



5. Next, add the sour cream (or buttermilk) and vanilla extract and whiz in quick pulses until just blended. Fold together if doing by hand.



6. At this stage, you can either tip the flour mixture into the food processor or fold together in a separate bowl. My chopper bowl is not that big so I did this in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and fold until just blended. Don't overdo the mixing part.



7. Scoop into greased tray and smooth out the top layer evenly.



8. Bake for about 40 mins or until the top turns golden brown and the cake passes the skewer test. Remove and let cool completely before frosting.



For Frosting:

Whiz together all ingredients in the food processor for about a minute until well blended. Chill until needed to frost. You can mix by hand too, just make sure the butter and cream cheese are softened to room temperature so that they blend well when mixing with hand.

Frosting from the first time I made the cake

When the cake is cool, layer on the frosting on all sides. Cut and serve. With sour cream, the cake turns out much much softer so try and use it instead of buttermilk, if you can. Yum.

The first time I made this cake. Came out denser, but equally yummy.

Chocolate Banana Hazelnut Crumble with Vanilla Custard Sauce

The chosen recipe for this month's Sweet Punch was Pear and Chocolate Crumble with Almonds. I wasn't too keen on trying baked pears so I decided to use bananas instead. Then I realised I didn't have almonds at home so used hazelnuts. Finally, the recipe got adapted quite a bit but the end result was amazingly delicious. Its quite light since they are individual portions and with the vanilla custard sauce that I usually serve with my apple crumble, this was was a sure winner. What's more, this is a super simple eggless dessert for those of you who don't eat eggs in any form!

With each spoonful, I kept asking TH, "isn't this delicious?" as if I wasn't responsible for the deliciousness. It really was that good. Its super easy to make and there are no exotic, hard to find ingredients either.

Chocolate Banana Hazelnut Crumble
Adapted from here
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup brown sugar (white should work too)
1/2 cup hazelnuts (or almonds)
A generous pinch of powdered cinnamon (optional)
100gm chopped bittersweet chocolate (you can also use milk chocolate or semi sweet - choc chips not recommended since they are designed not to melt)

For the crumble:
100gm / 3/4 cup plain four (or, try atta)
55gm  / 1/4 cup chilled butter
10gm chopped bittersweet chocolate (I omitted this)
A pinch of salt, if using unsalted butter

How I Made It:

1. Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan until browned on few sides. Cool and chop into small pieces.



2. Chop up the chocolate.  I used these gorgeous Lindt bittersweet discs I got from Sydney and they were so delicious, all melted and gooey in the crumble.



3. Cut the banana into small pieces and mix in a bowl with cinnamon, chocolate, sugar and the hazelnuts. Spoon equal portions into 6 ramekins (no need to grease) or one pie-dish, if you wish. Make sure you spoon in any juices and liquids too.



4. Add diced, chilled butter to the flour (+salt) and use fingertips to mix together, until it resembles bread crumbs. Add the chocolate (if using), and mix well. Lay over the banana mixture and press gently.

5. Bake in a 180C preheated oven for about 35-40 mins until the top turns brown and the mixture is all bubbly.



Serve with vanilla ice-cream or vanilla custard sauce, recipe below.

Vanilla Custard Sauce (with egg)

Beat with a fork, 1 egg yolk with 1 teaspoon cornflour and add 2 tablespoon sugar with that. Add one cup warm milk and beat well again. Cook on a low fire stirring constantly until pouring custard consistency. Add 1/2 tsp vanila essence, cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.

Vanilla Custard Sauce (eggless)

Blend vanilla flavoured custard powder with 1.5 cups of milk and 4 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste). Cook on a low fire until pouring consistency. Cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.