Sweetheart tart - Hong Kong Milk Tarts

I was lucky enough to go back to Hong Kong for a week last week. Sadly, for a funeral - however the silver lining being able to see family and friends who mean the world to me. An emotional visit to say the least, however I'm so glad I went. Hong Kong to me is sometimes so strange - a homeland, but never technically a home I've permanently lived in and there are elements of great nostalgia, but always new things to discover and admire. Home is wherever your family is, and mine happens to be split between London, Leeds and Hong Kong...not the most convenient, but it makes family time when we all see each other all the more special.

The smells, hustle and noises from central Hong Kong are still astounding, and I can't wait to go back for 2 weeks in December. One of the senses which always gets me is passing chains upon chains of bakeries within the MTR transport stations. You wouldn't dream of picking up a cake for a dinner party from the Underground stations in London, but in Hong Kong no one would bat an eyelid, they're all that good (and clean!). Cakes and tarts always have a special place in my heart, and in the midst of GBBO frenzy and fever, I decided I hadn't done a sweet in a while. A haze of jetlag, I got to baking - however I state my disclaimer now, that the pastry I had made was from an old cook book, and did not make for an easy and thin casing...(and unassumingly large quantities of it were made) so we can probably skip that part of the recipe and would advise anyone to use a normal sweet shortcrust pastry dough. BBC's recipe is an easy win here. I'm pretty sure Mr.Hollywood would not be impressed with my pastry skills this time round. Substitute about 25g of the flour in the recipe for some sieved milk powder for a little more of a milky finish to the pastry if you can. 

The milk tart seems to hide away in the darkest corner of most Hong Kong bakeries. It's like the little sister of the custard tart...a little less known, a little less ambitious but a lot easier to make (mind my pastry...). The filling is a flan like texture, with a silky white finish which slips down so easily you may forget you're tucking into your third consecutive tart without knowing it. The contrast with the buttery and crumbling pastry is just heaven - and all delicately finished with a glimmer of ginger flavours for an unexpected zing.

Accidental tofu, blueberry and chia super smoothie

This most certainly wasn't a planned post. I had a great tofu recipe in mind, however in my post wedding (a friend's, not mine) hangover state I bought the wrong tofu. Put it simply, a scrambled and poor decision making ability from what was left of the weekend. However, I wasn't going to let that mean no post for this week. Onwards, I thought. 

I'd been going through my predictable phase of feeling "the guilt" about eating out, not exercising and general unhealthy habits. With a gusto force of "just do it" I've been picking myself up with going to the gym more and eating healthier. One such habit is making sure I eat breakfast. I normally crash at work around 11, and struggle to stay focused till lunch. But having a protein focused breakfast is a great way to stay full (eggs work a treat but I'm pretty lazy to be getting up any minute earlier than I need to in the mornings). 

My mistake of buying Silken tofu was not in vain... if you've never tried this before, you should - the texture is so creamy and soft, a perfect substitute for yoghurt on smoothies and has added health benefits such as being a great source of all eight amino acids. *google and insert nutritional value should you wish here*. 

Bulk up the tofu based smoothie with some super foods, chia seeds and minimal honey and it's a great post work out treat or quick and healthy breakfast.