Passion Fruit Egg Tarts

for when life gives you passion fruit

Happy Monday, folks! If you’re not a fan of weekly updates you can just scroll down for this week’s recipe.

We had a beautiful weekend here in the East Bay. The trees are budding with pink and violets flowers, the air has that post rain freshness, and the days feel significantly longer. Spring might be finally upon us! I was solo this weekend while Reuben was in Utah skiing, enjoying a real winter, so I went thrifting, ate girl dinners, and got dressed up - some of my favorite activities! I bopped over to the White Elephant Sale in Oakland and it was a thrifters’ dream. All proceeds support the Oakland Museum of California and the selection of home goods, art, books, clothes, furniture was just impeccable. Also, so well priced because I felt like their goal is to fundraise while reducing waste instead of maximizing profits, which was an incredibly refreshing experience. I came home with a nice selection of kitchen goods to add to my already full cabinets, but I’m still thinking about this stone cowboy hat that I left behind… I hope it went to a great aesthetically appropriate home!

Olive Loaf and I went over to a dinner party and (I) enjoyed Japanese curry with potato corn croquettes. She was obviously the guest of honor. I ventured into SF for some Yunnan-style noodles and they were very good! I especially loved their Yunnan-style rice noodle rolls filled with ground pork and mushroom, very different than the Cantonese rice noodle rolls I grew up with! Last night I got dress up and brushed my hair to attend the Berkeley Library Foundation Authors Dinner because I was being honored! I definitely felt some imposter syndrome being in room with celebrated journalists, scholars, and noble peace prize dinners, but my friend/date Katie reminded me that I have 2 James Beard Awards and my invite wasn’t a mistake. But it was a lot of fun and felt so quintessentially Berkeley. Aaaand I’m still fixated on eating every meal off of my grandparents’ Chinese restaurant diner plates because it makes everything meal feel cozier.

Shall we talk egg tarts now?

Weekend Photo Dump

I know eggs are a top commodity right now, I promise this recipe is worth sacrificing 2 eggs and an egg yolk! I’ve never had a passion fruit egg tart before until I made them for myself. Rarely do I even see flavored egg tarts beyond the classic offerings of Hong Kong-style and Macau-style egg tarts in bakeries. The best thing about becoming either a confident or fearless baker is that if you one day get the urge to try something that you don’t think quite exists, you can go forth and make that dream a reality.

I’m confused of when passion fruit season actually occurs, but at least in the Bay Area right now and the grocery stores near me they are abundant. I was able to grab a whole bag of these for $5 last week. When they are not quite in season, I’ve purchase frozen passion fruit pulp at Asian and Mexican grocery stores. Whole Foods even carries frozen block of passion fruit for smoothies, although without seeds.

This recipe is based on the hong kong-style egg tart recipe in my first book Mooncakes and Milk Bread, it utilizes the Chinese puff pastry recipe also in the same book for and extra crispy and flaky crust. You can of course use store-bough puff pastry but I highly recommend making your own if you’re feeling up to it. The egg tart custard is actually really straight forward, consisting of milk, eggs, and simple syrup (sugar + water). The syrup essentially bakes to the top of the custard, giving the tarts a glossy and smooth finish. In this case, the passion fruit is incorporated into the simple syrup. By doing so, you concentrate the passionfruit flavor into the syrup (this recipe would be great for drinks by the way) and extracting some of it away from the seeds. I prefer to strain out the seeds because if you keep them in the custard they will just sink to the bottom of the tarts. The seeds have also been essentially candied while you make the syrup and you can use them as your topping once the tarts cool. The crunch of the seeds is kind of nice too and I like how using them as a topping visually communicates with you that these are not your normal egg tarts.

I truly have no self-control around egg tarts, especially when they are fresh and still warm from the oven. As soon as I took a bite of one of these passion fruit egg tarts I knew I had to get rid of them immediately, otherwise I would consume the entire tray. They are HEAVENLY. They taste like a tropical summer vacation, rich but fruity and tart. The texture of the crisp pastry with the just set silky custard is so lovely and satisfying. I texted my local friends and they prompted got snatch up! I saved a couple for myself to slowly enjoy though.

So I hope that wherever you are you can locate some passion fruit and make these sunny little sweet treats! If you’re looking for another passion fruit recipe, check out my Passion Fruit Curd Cookies from last year!

Passion Fruit Egg Tarts

Makes 12

Passion Fruit Egg Tarts

61.7KB ∙ PDF file

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1lb Chinese Puff Pastry (from Mooncakes & Milk Bread) or store-bought puff pastry

125g (about 1/2 cup) water

100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar

70g passionfruit pulp (from 3 to 4 fruit)

2 large eggs + 1 yolk

90g (1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp) whole milk

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1. In a medium saucepan, mix to combine water, sugar, and passion fruit pulp. Heat over medium heat until it simmer and continue to simmer until the sugar dissolves and the syrup slightly thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool for a moment. Set a mesh strainer over a heat proof bowl and pour the passion fruit syrup through the strainer to catch the seeds. Save the seeds, which have essentially been candied, for your topping. Allow the syrup to fully cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees. Roll out the puff pastry into a large rectangle and cut out 12 4” rounds with a fluted pastry cutter. Press the pastry into individual tart molds and arrange on a large rimmed baking sheet. Set the sheet pan in the fridge to keep chilled.

3. In a large bowl, mix to combine eggs, egg yolk, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Slowly stream in the passion fruit syrup while continuously whisking. For an extra silky custard, strain the mixture through a mesh strainer. Fill each tart with the custard, up to 1/4” below the edge of the pastry edge (I prefer to transfer the custard into a spouted measuring cup for ease or pouring).

4. Bake until the pastry is lightly golden and the custard is starting to set around the edges, about 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 F degrees, open the door to release some of the heat, and allow the tarts to keep cooking until the custard is puffed with a slight jiggle, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the sheet pan to a wire rack and allow the tarts to cool, the custard will deflate as they cool. Once the custard has leveled out, spread a little bit of the candied seeds on top. Serve warm or allow it to fully cool.