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Cantonese

Cantonese egg tarts

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

蛋撻 · dàn tà

Small, crumbly butter-pastry tarts filled with a smooth, glossy, just-set egg custard — a staple of Hong Kong bakeries and dim sum.

Cantonese egg tarts is a Cantonese pastry from China, ready in about 1 hour 27 minutes and made with all-purpose flour and egg. It serves 12 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking
A serving of egg tart
Representative photo. LNAM Haoi / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0
Prep
35 min
Cook
22 min
Rest
30 min
Total
1 h 27 min
Serves
12
Level
Intermediate
Calories
193

Ingredients

12 tarts

Pastry

Custard

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Rub the butter into the flour, icing sugar (opens in a new tab) and salt until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add half the beaten egg (opens in a new tab) and bring together into a dough without kneading. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

    • 8 min
    Hands kneading dough on a floured surface
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Dissolve the sugar (opens in a new tab) in the hot water and let it cool to lukewarm. Whisk (opens in a new tab) in the eggs (opens in a new tab), evaporated milk (opens in a new tab) and vanilla (opens in a new tab) gently, without making foam, then strain twice.

    Eggs being whisked in a bowl
    How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 200 °C. Roll the pastry 3 mm thick, cut rounds and press into 12 tart tins or a muffin tin, pushing the pastry slightly above the rim.

  4. Step 4

    Fill each case almost to the top with custard. Bake for 10 minutes at 200 °C, then lower to 180 °C and bake 10–12 minutes more until the custard is set but still wobbles slightly.

    • 22 min
    • 180°C · starting at 200 °C

    Food safety: Custard should be set, not liquid, in the centre.

  5. Step 5

    Cool in the tins for 10 minutes before lifting out. Best eaten warm.

    • 10 min

About this dish

Origin
Guangzhou / Hong Kong, China · Commonly attributedThought to have developed from British custard tarts in 1920s Guangzhou and Hong Kong.Also popular in Malaysia, SingaporeMore food from China
Dish
Snack · Breakfast · Dessert · Pastries · Desserts
Cooking method
Oven-baked
Taste
sweet, buttery, creamy
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-sodium
Without the optional extras: Alcohol-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Festive & celebration · Child-friendly
Cook more with
All-purpose flour · Egg · Unsalted butter · Icing sugar · Sugar · Evaporated milk
Techniques
Baking · Kneading

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom unsalted butter, evaporated milk
  • Contains: Eggsfrom egg
  • Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
  • Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

193 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 71 g · recipe makes 12

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 9%
  • Carbohydrate 46%
  • Fat 45%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy193 kcal272 kcal
Protein4.3 g6.1 g
Carbohydrate22.2 g31.3 g
Net carbohydrate21.8 g30.7 g
Sugars9.4 g13.3 g
Added sugars8.7 g12.3 g
Fibre0.5 g0.6 g
Fat9.7 g13.6 g
Saturated fat5.5 g7.7 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol84 mg118 mg
Sodium45 mg63 mg
Salt equivalent0.1 g0.2 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
62 mg
Calcium
32 mg
Iron
1.1 mg
Magnesium
8 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
93 µg
Vitamin C
0 mg
Vitamin D
0.5 µg
Vitamin B12
0.2 µg
Folate (DFE)
57 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: vanilla extract.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • If the custard starts to puff, open the oven door briefly to cool it — puffing leads to a pitted surface.

Common mistakes

  • Whisking the custard vigorously, which traps air bubbles and spoils the glossy top.

Serve with

  • Serve warm with Hong Kong milk tea.

Food safety

  • Egg custard spoils easily: keep the tarts out of the fridge for no more than about 2 hours, and never more than 4 hours in total between 5 °C and 57 °C.

Storage

  • Leave out at room temperature for no more than about 2 hours after baking, then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Reheating

  • Warm briefly in a 160 °C oven for about 5 minutes before serving.

Variations

  • Puff pastry egg tarts: Use flaky puff pastry cases instead of shortcrust, as many Hong Kong bakeries do.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

The body of the dish

Custard

Used in steps 1, 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

  1. Mix and knead · about 35 min

    Knead until smooth and soft; it should feel like an earlobe.

  2. Rest · about 30 min

    Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.

  3. Bake · about 22 min at 180 °C

    Puffed with golden-brown spots on both sides.

  4. Cool · about 10 min

    Cool on a rack before slicing — the crumb is still setting; cutting hot bread makes it gummy.

  5. Start to finish: about 1 h 37 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

If something goes wrong

  • Pale crust

    Likely causes

    • Oven too cool
    • Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
    • Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)

    What to do

    • Check the oven with a thermometer
    • Brush with egg wash or milk
    • Shorten the fermentation
  • Burnt bottom

    Likely causes

    • Tray too close to the heat
    • Dark tray absorbs more heat
    • Too much sugar in the dough

    What to do

    • Bake on the middle shelf
    • Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
    • Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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