Best for: Dim sum’s silky tart, baked over the fire.
Dan ta — the little egg custard tarts of Cantonese dim sum — are an oven pastry, and this recipe is an honest adaptation rather than a claim otherwise: store-bought puff pastry shells filled with a simple strained custard, baked in a covered cast-iron setup on the grill, which holds the steady, gentle heat a custard needs. The grill becomes the oven; the tarts stay unmistakably dan ta.
Grill-baked: Two zones, indirect medium heat; 375°F, covered — the grill works as the oven. Equipment: Grill, cast-iron skillet or muffin tin set in a skillet, fine strainer, instant-read thermometer.
Ingredients
Cool: 10 minutes. Total: 50 minutes.
Shells and custard
- 12 frozen puff pastry tart shells (or 1 sheet puff pastry cut and fitted into a muffin tin)
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of fine table salt
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil, for the tin
Directions
Dissolve the sugar in the hot water and let it cool for a few minutes of the prep time. Whisk the eggs gently — no foam — with the milk, sugar water, vanilla, and salt, then strain the custard twice for silkiness.
Set up a two-zone grill and heat the indirect zone to a steady 375°F. Oil the muffin tin or tart molds lightly and fit the pastry shells.
Set the tin in the cast-iron skillet on the indirect side — the skillet is a heat buffer that protects the pastry bottoms.
Pour the custard into the shells to just below the rims. Close the lid and bake for 18–20 minutes, keeping the grill at 375°F.
The tarts are done when the pastry is deep golden and the custard centers still tremble slightly when the tin is nudged — they finish setting as they cool.
Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then lift the tarts out and serve warm or at room temperature.
Grilling tip: Straining the custard twice is the dim sum secret — it removes the chalazae and bubbles that would otherwise spot the surface.
