Portuguese egg tart

To me, this is the cheat's version of the HK or Cantonese egg tart because it's 'hardier' and the egg custard isn't soft and quivering like the Cantonese one. This also uses puff pastry, which in my case, has already been ready made. Therefore, this recipe is like the introduction to baking egg custard and if I get this right, I can move on to the pale HK egg tarts.

Recipe adapted from https://www.littlesweetbaker.com/2016/01/29/chinese-egg-tarts/
She used 2 eggs and 1 yolk but as I can never figure out what to do with the extra white so I added it in. Maybe that puffed it up more than normal.

Ingredients (makes 16 to 20 tarts)
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
3 eggs, beaten
⅓ C + 1 tbsp (80g) sugar
⅔ C warm milk
⅓ C evaporated milk
½ tsp vanilla essence

Method
1) Warm up the milk and melt the sugar. Let it come to room temp. Preheat oven to 200 deg C and place the oven shelf at the lowest third of the oven.
2) Beat the eggs with evaporated milk and vanilla. Add the sugary milk. Strain into a pouring jug.
3) Unfold the pastry sheet and lay it over a lightly floured surface.
4) Using a round cookie cutter (9cm for tart tin and 10cm for muffin tin), cut out as many rounds as you can squeeze in. Place them into the oiled tart or muffin tins. Trim off any excess.
5) Pour the egg mixture into the pastry case but leave a rim. Do not fill to the brim or over fill or else the mixture will overflow during baking and stick the tart to the tin.
6) Bake the tarts at 200 deg C for 15 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, watch out for when they start to puff up. Open the oven to let out the hot air escape. If not, they will deflate after removal from the oven. Reduce the temp to 175 deg C and then bake for a further 14 minutes (tart tin) to 16 minutes (muffin tin). Check for readiness by inserting a toothpick which will stand upright unaided.
7) Remove from oven and leave to cool in the tins. Once the tins are cool enough to handle, remove from the tin. Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container.

Apple flakey pie

I bought puff pastry some time ago and never quite knew what to do with it. When I had 4 lingering apples in the fridge, hey, make apple puff pastry tart!

Came across four different recipes but the base recipe was similar, the only difference was the presentation.

Open faced: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/quick-easy-and-yummy-apple-tart/
Apple pie ie closed faced: http://www.justonecookbook.com/easy-apple-pie/
Croissant rolls: http://theblondcook.com/apple-pie-bites/
Apple strudel: https://www.puffpastry.com/recipe/apple-strudel/

With apple poking through

Ingredients
2 sheets of puff pastry
4 medium apples, peeled and cored
Juice and zest of ½ a lemon
Bowl of salted water.
1 tbsp raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
2 to 3 tbsp brown sugar (adjust to taste)
2 tbsp corn flour - this is key because raw apples are used, otherwise the pastry becomes soggy
1 egg, beaten

Method
1) Peel and core the apples and then halve it and cut thin slices.
2) Thaw the pastry in the fridge (½ hour) or countertop (10 minutes). If it becomes too hard to work with, stick it back into the freezer but make sure that it is well wrapped otherwise it dries out.
3) Place the apple slides in a bowl of salted water to prevent oxidation. In a bowl, add the lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugar and toss in the apple slices to coat. Taste. It should be slightly too sweet for your palate.
3) Take 1 sheet and cut into four. Invert onto a parchment covered baking sheet and peel off the baking plastic. Leave a gap between each slide.
4) Lay the apple slices on top neatly but leave an edge. Brush egg wash on the edge.
5) Cut the next sheet of pastry into 4, and make 3 slits in each pastry. Lay this second piece on top of the apple slices and crimp all around the edges using a fork.
6) Bake in an oven at 220 deg C for 5 minutes as the pie will be very soggy. Turn down and bake for a further 20 to 25 minutes, turning the pan halfway to ensure even browning. Check to see that it has browned and puffed up, and you should also see the liquid inside bubbling away.
7) Serve hot but be careful as inside would be scaldingly hot. Place the remaining tarts on a wire rack to cool fully before storing.

Char siu soh

Fantastic recipe!
http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/2014/05/char-siu-sou-chinese-bbq-pork-puff-pastry/

Here's my interpretation with some adaptations, eg I can't be bothered to cut circles. The thawed pastry is too soft to handle.

Ingredients (makes 16)
4 sheets of puff pastry
350g char siu
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp light soya
1 tbsp dark soya
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup water
2 stalks spring onions, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Method
1) Thaw the puff pastry in the fridge, about 15 minutes before using.
2) Make the sauce. Pour the flour, corn flour, sauces and sugar into a pot. Add the water and stir till there are no lumps left. Add the spring onions.
3) Put it on the stove and whisk till it boils and thickens. Once thick, set aside to cool.
4) Prepare 2 baking trays by lining with parchment. Preheat oven to 200 deg C.
4) Chop the char siu into cubes. Pour on the sauce and mix together.
5) Take 1 sheet and cut into 4. Do not remove the plastic sheet.
6) Place 1.5 tsp of the mixture in the centre of each square.
7) Using the egg wash, brush each edge of the square. Fold the pastry in half: into a triangle or the more traditional rectangle.
8) Using a fork, crimp all open sides shut.
9) Transfer onto the parchment and egg wash each pastry. Sprinkle on the sesame seeds.
10) Bake for 15 minutes at 200 deg C. (I rotated the tray at 9 minutes to ensure even browning).
11) Leave on the tray for 10 minutes to cool then transfer to a wire rack to cook completely. Don't eat it straight out of the oven, the sauce is scaldingly hot!

Nutella mini croissants

I have some left over puff pastry in the freezer from the last time I made sausage rolls for a picnic. I didn't relish doing sausage rolls again, so thought I'd look for some quick and fast recipe. Since I have 1.5 bottles of Nutella in the pantry, et voila, this is perfect!

I can't stand the way the chef pronounces "Nutella" as "Neu-tella" but hey, whatever floats her boat, right, especially if she's trying very hard to be faithful to her Italian (Brooklyn?) heritage.

She uses 425 deg F (220 deg C) for 10 to 12 minutes.

Here's another recipe that uses chocolate buttons (which I also have lurking around in my pantry) instead of Nutella, and bakes it at much lower, only 350 deg F (180 deg C) but for 20 to 25 minutes. I guess it takes longer to melt the buttons than the Nutella, which is already kinda liquid.

http://www.inspiredtaste.net/20300/sinfully-easy-chocolate-croissant-recipe/

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/3-ingredient-nutella-croissants-recipe/

Basic recipe is as follows:

1) 1 sheet of pastry, rolled out another another inch on all sides. Cut into 8 rectangles, then cut each rectangle diagonally to make 16 triangles.

2) Try to make the triangle equilateral by stretching out the dough. Then starting from the longest side, put 1 tsp of Nutella or 1 tsp of buttons. Brush egg wash on the sides and then roll towards the other end (watch the video), making sure to tuck in the filling so it doesn't spill out. Then like a croissant, turn in the ends towards the centre.

3) Place on baking sheet with parchment or baking paper, then brush the tops of each croissant with egg wash (1 beaten egg with dash of milk).

4) Bake away and serve dusted with powered sugar if using.

Sausage rolls

Jaime Oliver did a simple sausage roll recipe in his 30 minute meals series, and received rave reviews from cooking blogs so I thought for my upcoming picnic, I'd be able to whip this out on the morning of the picnic in under 30 minutes (plus baking time!) I was so wrong - it took me 1.5 hours, because I made an error and had to undo the first batch, and also because I was going really slowly so as not to spill stuff here and there and then have do a huge clean up afterwards! He's got a clean up crew - I don't!

I found the best pictoral preparation blog entry was this one: Dine at Mine http://dineatmine.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/sausage-rolls.html

I didn't exactly follow the blog so here's my interpretation.

Ingredients (I made 24 out of this but the recipe says you can make 20)
1 packet of chipolata sausages (12 inside)
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 egg and splash of milk
2 sheets of store bought puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Method (best to refer to the Dine at Mine's photos)
1) Unroll the puff pastry sheet and place on a lightly floured surface. Cut 1 sheet of puff pastry in two.
2) Near the edge of 1 sheet, place 4 sausages diagonally (I only used 4 because I found it too full to close up if I followed the recipe and put 6).
3) In a pestle and mortar, pound up the coriander and fennel. Sprinkle over the sausages.
4) Sprinkle the cheese over the sausages.
3) Fold over the pastry and seal the edges with a bit of egg wash and use the twines of the fork to crimp them down.
4) Brush with egg wash and scatter the sesame seeds on top.
5) Cut each roll into about 5 or 6  x 10 cm pieces.
6) Transfer each sausage roll onto a parchment paper and bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 220 deg C or until golden brown.