For those entire kitchen geeks who admire baked bakery food. This food is generally thought to be high in unsaturated fats and oils especially rich in carbohydrates and sugars. You would be surprised if I bring to you a way by which you can enjoy pastries and on other side you can ease with carbohydrates. This recipe is native from Portugal and it will not raise your heat beats but will definitely ease tension from your minds. 
Pie crust mixes generally have a crumby and flaky texture this will fill your kitchens with a pleasing sweetness aroma. Tips to be remembered while preparing one at your place
1. Always measure the main ingredients especially flour; too much flour makes a tough pastry; too much liquid gives a soggy dough; too much vegetable shortening / lard makes the dough greasy and crumbly.
2. To get a flaky, tender crust, handle the dough lightly by mixing the ingredients gently with a spatula.
Kneading will cause excessive production of gluten which will make the pastry chewy and bread-like instead of light and flaky.
3. When handling dough, use your fingers instead of the palm of your hands as the fingers emit less heat than the palms.
4. When breaking down the butter or fats (vegetable shortening / lard), it’s ok to leave them in firm separate pieces, some fine and like crumbs, others the size of peas.
5. Water is used to bind the dough. So the flour, fat mixture should be moistened only to the point where it can form small balls that hold together when pressed with your fingers.
6. When rolling pastry dough, use a cool surface like a marble slab or a clean smooth counter top. DO NOT roll dough next to an oven or in a hot kitchen spot as this will cause the fats to melt.
7. If the dough becomes too soft during the rolling process, gently remove it from the work surface, slide a baking sheet below it and refrigerate it until it firms up(or add little flour to regain original texture).
Hong Kong tarts
They have two varieties on basis of outermost layer or crust.
Butter-flavored short crust pastry (Niuyoupi, literally, “Cow oil (butter) skin”): made with shortcut pastry. It is named “butter skin” in Chinese since it possesses a cookie like flavour with a rich butter aroma.
Puff pastry (Supi, literally “Crispy skin”) made with puff pastry and with an extremely crisp texture. Lard is typically used in making the base rather than butter or shortening. This type is regarded as the most traditional and correct form of egg tart by food critics. Another variety becoming more popular in the ever increasing focus on health is milk-centered egg tarts. It is composed of a smooth milky egg-white center and is somewhat healthier than traditional egg tarts.
Ingredients
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1 dash vanilla extract
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups water
9 eggs, beaten
1 dash vanilla extract
1 cup canned evaporated milk
1. In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners’ sugar and flour.
2. Mix in butter with a fork until it is in small crumbs.
3. Stir in the egg and vanilla until the mixture forms dough.
4. The texture should be slightly moist. Add more butter if it is too dry, or more flour, if the dough seems greasy.
5. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and press the balls into tart molds so that it covers the bottom, and goes up higher than the sides. Use 2 fingers to shape the edge into shape.
6. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Combine the white sugar and water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil.
7. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
8. Strain the eggs through a sieve, and whisk into the sugar mixture. Stir in the evaporated milk and vanilla. Strain the filling through a sieve, and fill the tart shells.
9. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown, and the filling is puffed up a little bit.
Serve with a hot cup of coffee/milk.
Via: Simcooks
