Copycat KFC Portuguese Egg Tarts ❗❗ Beginner-Friendly & Foolproof ❗❗

I used store-bought frozen puff pastry tart shells from King's Pastry in Canada.

🍞Custard Filling Ingredients: (Makes 9 to 10 large egg tarts; I made 9)

Milk 100g, heavy whipping cream 180g, 1 whole egg plus 2 egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk 15g, sugar 35g.

🍞Instructions:

1️⃣If your oven takes a while to preheat, start preheating it to 200°C as soon as you begin preparing the custard filling.

2️⃣Make the custard filling: Whisk the whole egg and two egg yolks until smooth, then add the sugar, sweetened condensed milk, milk, and heavy whipping cream. Stir gently until well combined and the sugar dissolves.

3️⃣Pass the custard mixture through a fine-mesh sieve twice. Do not skip this step, as it directly determines the texture of the baked tarts. Double-straining gives you a silky-smooth, delicate custard.

4️⃣There is no need to thaw the frozen tart shells ahead of time. I take them out of the freezer right after straining the custard, separate them, and fill them directly (fills 9 to 10 shells).

5️⃣Bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes. (If your oven runs hot, check around 15 minutes and watch closely during the final few minutes so they don't burn.) I bake mine on the lower rack for the first 15 minutes, which crisps up the bottom pastry much better than starting on the upper-middle rack and keeps the top from browning too early. After 15 minutes, I move the tray to the upper-middle rack to finish baking until the tops develop those signature caramelized blisters.