Burnt Chestnut Sago Tart
Growing up, the “proper” way to learn English was to read a ton of classic, British children’s books - not the cool ones like Jacqueline Wilson’s more relatable paperbacks, but slightly ancient tomes, like Enid Blyton’s well-thumbed series. I loved reading (and still do) so I didn’t mind, but there’s not a lot I have in common with the 1950s British children I found in those books. I didn’t spend my summers exploring cold caves on pebble beaches for one, and two, they seemed to have the weirdest impressions of food. One of those was that tapioca pudding, apparently a mainstay of 1950s and 1960s British cuisine, was lumpy and tadpole-like - but maybe that was because they’ve never had it as 焗西米布丁, or baked sago pudding.
Baked sago pudding, as it’s served in Hong Kong, is a bit like a Snuggie. Traditionally cooked with plenty of evaporated milk, and filled with a thick layer red bean or lotus paste, it’s a very heavy dessert. My personal favourite though, is a marginally lighter variation using chestnut purée - which my godmother has refined to an art form. Her pudding is so good, I had to share it with you - so here goes. This is my godmother’s pudding, but now in tart form just for slightly easier sharing. Be warned though, you might fall into a huge food coma after this.
Ingredients:
For the tart base
150g chestnut flour
1.5 tablespoons of water
75g cold unsalted butter
For the filling
100g cooked sago
⅔ cup of water
⅓ cup of sugar
16g unsalted butter
16g instant custard powder
5g tapioca starch (or corn flour works too!)
41ml evaporated milk
83ml coconut cream
1 egg
200g chestnut purée
(optional) a few cooked chestnuts to decorate
Combine the chestnut flour, water and butter in a large bowl, and rub these together with your fingertips to create a dough. Roll the dough out and flip it into the tart tin. Let this chill for 20 minutes, or overnight.
Time to prep the filling - combine the water and sugar in a saucepan, and heat this until the water boils and the sugar has all dissolved.
Lower the temperature, and mix in the evaporated milk and butter. Keep simmering the mixture until everything has dissolved.
Add in the cooked sago, and mix vigorously until the sago is distributed evenly in the mixture.
In a separate bowl, mix the custard powder, tapioca starch and the coconut cream together until combined. Add this mixture to the sago mixture until it thickens up, then remove from heat.
Add in the egg to the sago mixture whilst mixing vigorously, and set aside.
Ladle the chestnut purée into the prepped tart tin, and layer on the sago mixture on top.
Bake at 190°C for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Decorate with a few cooked chestnuts for an extra nutty flavour!