Pandan Creme Caramel Tarts

I have some coconut milk leftover in fridge from my failed attempt of Pandan Mantou (Chinese Steamed Buns). Coconut milk turns stale easily and the piece of sweet shortcrust pastry leftover (from the bluberries cream cheese tarts) was an eye sore for me when opening the freezer. Wanting to get rid of both without wasting them, trying hard to find ideas to combine both to create a dessert. I was adamant about this idea that couldn't  sleep until I got a solution/idea. Tossing and turning for an hour, suddenly I recalled making a thai dessert using coconut milk-calledThai-Style Creme Caramel. The creme caramel was just like a custard and maybe used as a tarts filling. Not sure if it works but nonetheless, decided to give it a shot the following day as I was really anxious about clearing these ingredients from my fridge. It was a success and surprisely the Pandan Creme Caramel goes well in the tarts(Pandan and Coconut works well together creating a nice and rich flavor), it tasted even nicer when it has been sitted in the fridge for a day. Never serve it warm!

Makes 6 Tarts
Ingredients:
1 Cup Coconut milk
2 Eggs
2 1/2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Pandan Essence/Paste
A pinch of salt
1 Sheet Sweet Shortcrust Pastry, thaw for 5mins


1.Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius. Grease the muffin pan with oil. Cut 6 pieces of baking paper, about 2cm x 10cm strips. Put across each muffin cup as shown in the pictures. This is for easy removal of the tarts after baking.

 2. Beat eggs by hand with a fork gently for one minute. DO NOT beat too vigorously else you do not want too much bubbles to be form. Then add the salt, sugar, pandan paste, and coconut milk. Stir until well combined.

3. Place the pastry shell on a lightly floured table. Use a round cutter (I do not have one, I use an egg ring to cut out the dough or you can use a drinking glass, turn it over and cut out the round shape). I wanted the tarts crust to be thin soI employed the technique I learnt from making dumpling to create that thinness of the crust for the tarts. You may want to click here to watch the video (pay attention to how to roll the dough) to have an idea on how to roll the dough to get the thinness.

 

Sprinkle the cut round pastry shell with flour on both sides, with a dumpling rolling pin, roll ONLY inwards from the outer edge of each circle to maintain a regular circle. If you roll outwards, the circle will become misshapen. When the pastry shell has been rolled out to about 2mm thick, put the pastry shell into the muffin pan that has been previously lined with baking paper strips.

4. Slowly your mixture into each muffin pan to 3/4 full.
5. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until an inserted fork comes out clean. Allow to cool, remove the tarts from the muffin pan , then place in the refrigerator until ready to serve. It is BEST serving it chilled.