Coconut Tarts

Makes 16 tarts

Coconut Tarts What do you think of when someone mentions "tarts"? Personally I think of an oven-fresh, sweet, coconut flake-filled, buttery treat. That may sound like a mouthful . . . but oh what a delicious mouthful it is!

Filling
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled

Double-crust pastry dough (homemade or store bought)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl; mix well.

Roll half of the pastry between two sheets of plastic wrap until 1/8-inch thick. Cut into eight 3-1/2-inch circles. Press the circles into greased 2-1/2-inch muffin pan cups or tart pans. Stir the coconut mixture; fill the cups evenly. Repeat with the remaining pastry to make a total of 16 tarts.

Bake the tarts until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. If necessary, cover the tarts with foil after 20 to 25 minutes to prevent excess browning.

Let Them Eat Cake

Western-style bakeries are very popular in Hong Kong as well as other Asian cities. In addition to creamy cakes and sweet tarts and cookies, these bakeries offer an interesting hybrid of East/West buns and pastries— meat-filled turnovers, curried beef buns, cocktail buns, and cream-filled buns with coconut toppings, just to name a few. Today, Asian bakeries are popping up internationally, probably in a Chinatown near you. Be adventurous on your visit. Remember, not even the Chinese live on bread alone.

Buy the Book!

Martin Yan's Invitation to Chinese Cooking
By Martin Yan
Bay Books, 1999
Paper, $24.95
240 pages, 138 recipes, 50 plus color photographs
ISBN: 1-57959-504-9
Recipe reprinted by permission.