Mini – custard pie with coconut cream
Egg tarts from Lord Stow’s bakery are rather pricey. But they’re addictive. And the nearest outlet is more than an hour’s drive from our house. I figured why not try to reproduce them at home. I wish I could make puff pastry from scratch but I can’t. I wish frozen puff pastry was available in our neighborhood but it isn’t. I had to do with the usual pie crust. Didn’t really matter. The custard was just glorious. Could do with a wee bit more improvement but I got the thrust of it.
You can use whatever pie crust recipe you have. If puff pastry is available, it’s ideal. I won’t bother with the pie crust recipe but go straight to the custard recipe.
There are two secrets: coconut cream and honey.
This recipe is good for nine mini-custard pies.
You need 2 cups of coconut cream. I made mine from powdered coconut cream so don’t worry if fresh coco cream is not available. When I say cream, it’s the equivalent of kakang-gata, the first squeeze from grated coconut.
You will also need 1-1/4 cups of fresh milk (next time I’ll use fresh carabao’s milk), 1/4 c. of pure honey, 2 egg yolks and 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour.
Mix everything together in a saucepan except the egg yolks. Cook over medium heat until the mixture starts to thicken. Off the heat, beat in the egg yolks.
Pour into prepared (unbaked) crusts. I used a muffin pan but you can use a regular pie pan — one large pie entails less work than nine mini-pies.
Bake in a very hot (pre-heated) oven, about 180oC until the tops are lightly browned. The tops will have dark spots — that’s the way they should be.
Notes (these are the things I will observe next time I bake these little sinful monsters):
Don’t overcook the custard mixture because too long in the heat will make the creams curdle.
On the stovetop, cook just until the mixture thickens. It will still be of pouring consistency but that’s really how it should be.
The oven must be very, very hot. Even if the custard is cooked just right on the stovetop, prolonged exposure to heat in the oven will still make the creams curdle.
This is where I made a mistake. I was too anxious that the crusts would burn that I started baking the mini-pies in a moderately hot oven. It wasn’t until after about 10 minutes, when the tops wouldn’t brown, that I turned up the heat. If I hadn’t made a mistake, the custard should be creamy and not have a mottled appearance. Despite the not-too-perfect texture, they were absolutely delicious.
Practice makes perfect, as they say. I’ll get myself some puff pastry before baking these custard pies again.
P.S. Forgot to mention — these mini-custard pies are what the girls brought for school recess today. Two each because they’d end up with nothing to eat when classmates ask them to share.
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Hi Connie,When you said 2 cups of coconut cream
and you used powdered coconut cream do you add water right?Because I bought some powdered coconut cream and the packet is equivalent of 1/2 cup (50g)and the mixing direction on the packet is for thick coconut milk add 2/3 cup of hot water do you follow that direction.Please advice.Thanks
You should probably temper the yolks instead of adding them to the custard mixtures directly to avoid turning them into scrambled eggs.
Mmmm.. sounds delicious!
Pity the oven here at home is broken at the moment. =( I love baking! I will have to try this recipe! I think I might need to drop by next door to bake it there! =)
Yummy!
Luz, 2 cups is the measurement after mixing the powder with the water. 2/3 c. of water + the powdered coco cream will result in more than 2/3 cup.
Tin Tin, what do you mean by “temper”?
Time to get the oven fixed, perhaps, Daisy?
Hi Connie,
Greetings from California!
I have been a regular visitor of your website for sometime and I subscribe to your Foodblitz email too. I tried baking this “Egg Tart” recipe today using a pre-made Graham cookies crust (store bought). It was delicious.
Keep up the good work of posting simple & easy to follow recipes. More power to your website!
hi connie, gusto ko rin makatikim ng ganito kasi dun sa princess hours (koreanovela), favorite sya nung bida….hehehe….babaw…anyway, pede ba syang lutuin sa turbo broiler? thanks for sharing your recipes…
Hi, ‘will cough up the “temper” meaning.
To temper is to add a little of the warm mixture to the yolks, mix that, before adding the yolk mix to the bigger, warmer mixture. This would ensure that the yolks wouldn’t curdle or ‘end up being scrambled eggs’ with all that sudden high temp.
Agh, learnt this the tough way when I made my first carbonara with egg. Turned out to be carbonara with scrambled eggs. Phooey! :-p
Oh, okay. I get it.
Thanks for the recipe…one of my favourites that I never dared cook until now…I tried this with store bought puff pastry…the custard turned out really yum, but the puff pastry turned out soggy at the sides and bottom probably from absorbing all custard mixture (the exposed bits that didn’t touch the liquid were nice and crispy)…I thought maybe I should have browned the puff pastry first before putting the custard mixture, but then again, it might burn by the time the custard gets cooked…I know you made your own pastry, but do you have any suggestions on working with puff pastry? Thanks again.
Connie, Here is a definition of “to temper” in a cookbook.
Definition: Temper actually has two meanings. The first is a process of heating and cooling chocolate to form stable crystals. These crystals then assure that the chocolate will be firm at room temperature. The second meaning is to gently heat egg yolks before adding to a hot sauce by adding a small bit of the sauce and beating well. This technique prevents curdling.
My brother is arriving from Manila this weekend and I have asked him to bring me some Lord Stow’s egg custard. Can’t wait to try them. My mouth is watering already.
Hi Ms Connie,
To temper means not to shock the ingredients with hot or cold mixture- especially eggs, milk, chocolate, etc as this will cook (for eggs – turned to scrambled).
Hopefully na-warningan na yung mga eggs at di na sila magcurdle. 
Same process when using melted chocolates para di naman po magbuo2. Sana po nakatulong. 
So instead po of pouring or beating the eggs kaagad with the mixture – in a bowl beat the eggs, then put a perhaps a ladle-full of hot milk mixture onto the eggs. Sort of warning the eggs that they are going to a hot place:) Then you may pour the entire contents of the bowl with the rest of the hot milk mixture.
Thanks,
May
Hi Connie,
I happened upon your website while looking for a chopsuey recipe – and now I can’t stop clicking for other recipes. The custard tart I buy from the Portuguese bakery here in Toronto is my favourite but may soon be replaced by your mini-custard pie with coconut cream. It looks yummy!!! I’ll try making it and let you know the result.
Hello Ms Connie!!
Or if ever I buy a ready made crust how do I bake it? Do I just put it on the baking tray with the custard inside it?
I just baked your lemon square recipe and t is divine!!! thanks for sharing… BTW Can I use your egg pie crust recipe as a crust to this one? and just use a pie pan instead of small ones?
thanks…
thanks all for the egg-tempering tip.
precy, the trick is to find the pie crust recipe you like best (in terms of taste, texture and ease of preparation) and use it for most (if not all) of your baking projects. note, though, that some pies require a sweeter crust than others.
Hi Connie, I finally tried the recipe today and I thought my pies didn’t turn out well because they sunk a bit in the middle. However, I checked the picture of your pie and it looked similar to mine. I didn’t do bad after all, except that I used smaller tart shells (I made 18 pies instead), and because of that the filling didn’t look as good and thick as the one you made. But, regardless of their size, they’re still muy delicioso. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Ms Connie!
Can you just pls give me an idea how long this sinful monsters should be bake on the oven? thanks
Josie, even Lord Stow’s egg tarts are sunken at the center.
lea, i don’t remember LOL. i wasn’t really paying attention because this was experimental. Next time, i’ll do a better documentation.
How did u make the little pie crust?
hi Ms. COnnie..
this might sound a bit silly but, can i use can coconut milk?? ito lang kasi ang meron sa tindahan
Heather, it’s just a regular pie crust recipe cut into circles to fit the molds.
Gracia, the texture and creaminess might not be the same but it’ll work.
miss connie, i’m not fond of pie crusts eh but i love custard–you think i could use graham crust? kasi at home when we buy pies, naku naiiwan ang crust pero pag no-bake cakes with graham crusts nauubos.