Desserts & Sweets, Asian - Thai, Indian, Vietnamese
Recipe:
From The Best of Nicole Routhier. A very gently-flavored Vietnamese dessert, but rich for all the coconut and butter. You can certainly see the French influence on Vietnam here. I liked it... but I will not know if it has got a permanent spot in my repertoire until I have made it a couple more times.
The amounts listed are for 6 3" tartlets or a 9" tart pan. I add 25% to the amounts for my 10" tart pan (amounts in parentheses).
Dough:
1/4 c. butter and/or shortening (5T.)
2 T sugar (2.5 T.)
1 egg yolk (1+)
1/2 t. vanilla extract (1/2+ t.)
3/4 c. flour (3/4 c. + 3 T.)
1/2 t. baking powder (1/2+ t.)
Filling:
2 c. grated fresh coconut (2.5 c.)**
2 T. sugar (2.5 T.)
4 T. softened butter (5 T.)
1 egg yolk (1+)
2 T. heavy cream (2.5 T.)
1/2 t. vanilla extract (1/2+ t.)
Glaze (I did not make any extra of this):
1 egg yolk
1 T butter, melted and cooled
1/2 T. sugar
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Prepare the dough: In a small mixing bowl, beat the shortening and sugar until creamy and fluffy. Stir in the egg yolk and vanilla. Add the flour and baking powder and mix well. Knead until smooth (I just mixed with my hand in the bowl as the dough was very crumbly.) Divide between pans (if making tartlets) and press to line the pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Prepare the filling: Combine the coconut, sugar, and butter in a mixing bowl. Knead to mix (I used spoon). Add egg yolk, cream, and vanilla and blend to a soft smooth paste. Place in pan(s). Smooth the tops and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
While the tartlets are baking, mix the glaze. Remove tartlets from oven and brush with glaze. Return to bake 5 additional minutes. Turn the oven to broil and leave in until the top becomes shiny and starts to turn golden. (Word of caution: I did not get glaze on the crust very well and had to take mine out before the coconut part was beautifully browned as in the picture). Cool the tartlets slightly before removing from the pans. Serve warm or cold.
** I bought two good-sized white coconuts (middling in age between "young" that you get with a straw in restaurants and the usual brown ones) and only needed one of them to get 2.5 c. grated meat. Miraculously I did not grate ANY of my knuckles into it either. The recipe book suggests you could use packaged sweetened shredded coconut if you omit the sugar from the filling... but I am not convinced it would be as good.
1/8 of a 10" tart has about 20 g. net carbs (and plenty of fat).