Thai Tea Egg Tarts

Instructions

Shortbread Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. In a small bowl, cream the softened butter and powdered sugar together
3. Add in the whisked egg and vanilla extract to the small bowl and mix until it is fully incorporated
4. Then pour in the flour and mix until the well combined
5. Remove the dough and flatten until about 1/4 inch thick
6. Cut the dough to the size of your tart tins and line them
7. Using your fingers push the dough into the crevices of the tart tin and then trim away the excess
8. Once all the tart tins are lined with the dough, poke some holes into the bottom of them with a fork
9. Blind bake the tarts (line each tart with some parchment paper and then top the papers with some rice, beans, or pie weights) in the oven for 20 minutes
10. Then remove the weights and brush the bottom of each tart with some egg wash (to keep the egg custard mixture from seeping through the holes)
11. Then return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes
12. Remove the tarts from the oven  once the dough is just a light golden brown and leave off to the side until the egg custard filling is done

Egg Tart Filling

1. Preheat the oven to 320F
2. Pour the water into a small sauce pot and heat until boiling
3. Once the water has started to boil, remove from heat and pour in the thai tea leaves
4. Allow the tea to steep for 5-10 minutes and then strain out the leaves (try to squeeze out as much of the water from them as possible!)
5. Pour in the granulated sugar into the hot water and stir until it is fully dissolved
6. In a small bowl, gently whisk together the two eggs and evaporated milk (you don't want to create too many air bubbles)
7. Add in the hot thai tea water sugar mixture to the small bowl and whisk until combined
8. Strain the above mixture at least twice (more times results in a smoother custard, but make sure to not incorporate too much air into it) before going to fill the tart shells
9. Fill each tart to about 90% with the egg custard mixture
10. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes (if the fillings start to inflate at any time during the bake process, then just prop open the oven door until they've fully deflated, before closing it again)*
11. The egg tarts will be done when you can stick a toothpick into the centers of them, without having them fall over
12. Cool in the tart shells and then enjoy!