When it comes to cakes and ice-cream, green tea is one of my favorite flavors. What about green tea tart? Oh yeah that got me curious. So far I’ve make this tart twice and I think there is still room for improvement. I just don’t know how to make the filling set correctly. The first time, I have overcooked filling. It has slight burned milk taste but were good enough for me to wipe the tart clean. The second time, I baked the tart for about 13 minutes (time lessen), and that too have some burned milk taste and ‘pimple’ surface. Arggh! I hope my 3rd time will be a charm! Or perhaps it’s suppose to be like that? Can anyone clarify this?
Yums!
Anyway it was during the making of this green tea tart that I learned the rolling pastry between cling films method. Prior to this I was shaping pastry (while making vanilla custard tart) right from the flan pan using bare-hand! Rolling pin won’t work at that time because my pastry gets warm real fast due to the weather.
Ok, let’s make the tart!
First, mix chilled butter and flour until crumbly.
Next add egg and sugar. Then add ‘cold’ water and mix to form a dough. Press it flat and wrap with plastic, refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll pastry between 2 cling films large enough to fit into a 9″ pan. This is my favorite way to roll pastry! Do you notice the creases that the plastic wrap makes? It looks horrible right? But then you know what? Nobody will see it except U! (in this case my readers as well)
Press the side and bottom so that the pastry won’t shrink during baking (make sure no air pocket). Also remember to prick bottom of pastry to prevent from puffing up during baking. Now freeze it for 15 minutes (freezing eliminate the use of baking beans). Bake at 190oC for 15 minutes. Leave it to cool.
Now for the filling,
Pre-mix sugar, salt and green tea powder.
This green tea powder of mine has amazing ‘original’ taste. Love it.
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Place whipping cream in a saucepan. Add the pre-mix powder. Cook until it boils. Set aside to cool.
Add egg white, egg yolks and milk. Mix well and let the mixture go through a sieve. Lastly pour the filling into the semi-baked pastry shell. Bake at 190oC until set.
One of the reason I love this tart so much despite the lacking outcome (filling set issue and pimple-y/wrinkles surface) is because of the amazing flaky crust. Make sure you use good butter.
This pastry crust pair really well with green tea and the sweetness of the green tea filling is just perfect. You can add whipped cream on the tart. As for me I enjoy eating it as it is without any flavour disturbance from other source. 🙂
Green Tea Tart
Adapted from Irresistible Pastry
Makes one 9″ tart
Recipe for Shortcrust pastry
* The weight of pastry is 480g.
250g flour
150g butter, diced and chilled
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg yolk
40g water ‘cold’
Filling
300g whipping cream
55g sugar
pinch of salt
5g green tea powder
1 egg white
2 egg yolks
60g milk
250g shortcrust pastry
Method:
To make pastry:
1. Mix butter with flour until crumbly. You can use mixer or by hand.
2. Add egg and sugar. Then add water and mix to form a dough. Shape dough into a ball and press it flat. Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Note: The weight of shortcrust pastry is 480g. For this green tea tart, it needs 250g pastry. I usually divide it into 2 equal portions (240g each). Use 1 part and keep the other in freezer for my next tart.
3. Roll the shortcrust pastry between 2 sheets of cling film to 3mm thickness.
4. Line a 9″ pie mould with the rolled pastry. Chill it for about 20 minutes in the fridge.
Note: Instead of chilling it, I freeze the dough for 15 minutes and prick bottom crust with fork; this will prevent shell from puffing during baking. It also eliminate the use of baking beans.
5. Blind bake the pastry shell at 190oC for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and bake for additional 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Note: Since I don’t use baking beans, I bake for 20 minutes straight.
To make filling & final bake:
1. Add sugar, salt and green tea powder and whipping cream in a bowl. Mix well and cook until it boils. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Add egg white, egg yolks and milk to the cool mixture. Stir well until combin and sieve it.
Note: If the green tea powder you use has a strong flavor, reduce its portion slightly.
2. Pour filling into the pastry shell. Bake at 190oC until set, about 10 minutes or more (depending on your oven).
Note: Over baking will puff the filling up. Wrinkles will appear when the tart is cool and the filling shrinks.
Happy baking!
11 Comments
very thin crust. Must be delicious
You can make the crust thicker if you want. Oh yeah yum-yum! 🙂
Looks good though I am still new in baking and have not tried a pie before, so I can’t share much with you. I too like green tea and yours is wonderful outcome.
This is only my 2nd type of tart I’ve ever tried. First one being vanilla custard tart. Well, gotta say making tarts are not as difficult as I imagined them to be. 🙂
Does it taste like pudding or taste like custard?
Thanks a lot
Hi Li, I believe its texture is like custard.
Hi there, this looks great:)
You can bake your tart first. Use beans or rice to prevent shrinkage and till it’s half cooked at 190deg. Add your filling and then bake at a lower temperature of about 150deg to set the custard. Remove the tart from the oven when the middle just jiggles slightly and not fully set, that way you get a perfect set custard. Hope this helps!
Hey! I tried this recipe although it did not specify the “time” to bake it in the oven, at final stage, it took 10 minutes to really bake it. The tarts were marvelous to eat on the spot, however, after storing it in the refrigerator overnight, the aroma and taste of the green tea subsides 🙁 Is there any way to store the green tea tarts? Or it shouldn’t be kept in the refrigerator as it should be kept warm? Thanks for your reply!
Hi Shan, thanks for trying this recipe. 🙂 Mentioned in the first paragraph I baked it at 13 minutes (2nd trial). I’ve updated the recipe to give an estimated time. Thank you. I can’t remember if mine loses the green tea flavor. Was years back I baked this. Did you eat the overnight tart straight out of the fridge or did you let it go back to room temperature first? Usually, if I know I can finish the tart within 2 days, I will keep it at the dining table and protect with food cover. If not better store in the fridge (cover it loosely). Before serving, bring the tart out from the fridge so it settles into room temperature first. I don’t recommend re-heating the tart.
Hello! I tried this recipe, I think I didnt cook the whipping cream + greentea / sugar mix enough cuz it was watery and almost spilling when I added in on my cooled tart?
Hi Dian, after adding the green tea filling, did you bake it for the filling to set?