Creamy Cheesy Tart

During my trip to Hong Kong, I was obsessed with egg tarts. The buttery flaky crust and sweet custardy filling! I had my eyes peeled for any food stalls that sold egg tarts. At that point, I thought nothing could ever top an egg tart...until I heard about the Hokkaido cheese tart. Imagine a miniature-sized version of your favourite cheesecake crammed into a tart. It was such a hype in Asia that people would wait for up to three hours just to get their hands on them.

The main component I wanted to focus on was the filling. I wanted it to have the lightness of an egg tart but with a flavourful punch, you would expect from a cheese tart. Of course, I had to toss some lemon in there as well. I think I got it! The filling is so fluffy and has the perfect balance of sweet and savoury.

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CHEESE TARTS

Adapted from Yummy PH and Cooking tree

Ingredients:

The Crust

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• ½ cup almond flour

• ½ cup powdered sugar

• ¾ cup cold unsalted butter, cubed 

• 2 egg yolks

Sweet Cheesy Filling

• ½ cup cream cheese

• ½ cup mascarpone cheese

• ¼ cup parmesan cheese

• ½ cup whipping cream

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

• 1½ tablespoon cornstarch

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¼ cup powdered sugar

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• Zest of half a lemon

• 1 egg

Egg wash

• 1 egg yolk

• 2 tablespoons milk

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Instructions:

1. The first step, let's make the pie dough! In a bowl, combine flour, almond flour, sugar, and cold butter. Using a pastry blender or a whisk, cut the cold butter amongst the dry ingredients until it looks like sand. Mix in the egg yolk until the dough comes together.

2. Form the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Pop it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

3. Let's make that sweet cheesy filling! In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the three kinds of cheese, cream, and butter until melted.

4. Add in the following with your cheese and butter concoction: lemon juice, lemon zest, cornstarch, egg, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Bring down the heat to low and mix that baby well until it has thickened; somewhat like custard.

5. Place your sweet cheesy filling in a bowl. Make sure the plastic wrap touches the filling and let it chill in the fridge for 1 - 2 hours.

6. Let's blindbake the pie crust. First up, pre-heat the oven to 320°F or 160°C. Grease your tart molds or muffin pan.

7. On a floured surface, roll out your dough. You want to cut your dough so that it is slightly bigger than the mold as the dough will shrink as it bakes.

8. Place the dough in the molds making sure it covers the side and edges. Poke some holes on the bottom of the crust so that we don't catch any air bubbles.

9. Place it in the oven for 10 minutes. When it's ready, let the pie crust cool.

10. Time to switch gears and preheat the oven to 420°F or 220°C. 11. Grab your sweet cheesy filling from the fridge and give it a quick whip.

12. Start pipping the filling into the pie crust.

13. In a small bowl combine the egg yolk and milk. To make our tarts extra golden, brush some egg wash over the entire tart.

14. Place the tarts in the oven for 8 minutes if you want it runny like lava. You can let it cook for 10 - 12 minutes if you would want the filling to be less runny and stay in place.

15. Let your tarts cool for a few minutes and tuck in! You can also garnish with lemon zest or powdered sugar.