Although my previous recipe Kuih Talam is ok but my need to tweak more for a better texture has been on my mind for the longest ever. I think i have found what i tweaked is to my satisfaction and i have to post it, not for my own reference but for everyone or anyone who will be interested to make a perfect kuih talam. Sweetness is just nice, just as what kuih should be, sweet enough to please the palate and the tinge of saltiness is there, complementing the sweetness. Oh yes, the richness of the coconut milk is just right from the whole can of CHAOKOH coconut milk which has 50% of saturated fat.
When my friend, Peng, linked me a video about a hong kong grandpa retiring and teaching his grand daughter to make his famous flaky pastry egg tart, i remembered that i have also made the flaky pastry this way but have not posted cos i have been neglecting my blog, but this recipe will be lost if not shared. All flaky recipes have been following the western way of layering by wrapping the butter dough with the less butter dough(the chinese called this the water dough and the butter dough, oil dough), but for this egg tart, it is the other way round, the water dough is wrapped by the oil dough. It is really flaky and easy to roll. I have used the traditional ingredient - LARD but vegetable shortening can be used. LARD is available in 1 lb block in all our supermarkets and it is inexpensive. Follow my instructions and you will have perfect flaky egg tarts.
I would like to share this new method of heating up the liquid and mixing it to the dry ingredients while it is hot. Also the sugar is sieved with the flour, salt and baking powder. It does give a finer crumb and improved the texture. i too find that there is no need to add the sugar slowly while whisking the egg whites. It makes no difference, so just add egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar all at once and whisk at a constant slow speed.(speed 4 in kitchenaid mixer)
