Matcha Hokkaido Cheese Tarts

Makes 18

INGREDIENTS

250g cream cheese, at room temperature

80g mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

35g finely grated parmesan cheese

50g unsalted butter, at room temperature

170ml full fat milk

100g icing sugar, sifted

30g cornflour, sifted

1 tbsp matcha green tea powder, sifted

2 eggs, plus one yolk extra

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Pinch sea salt

18 store-bought sweet tart cases

The Creative Kitchen Golden Delights, to decorate

Clover, to decorate (optional)

METHOD

Combine cream cheese, mascarpone, parmesan and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a bowl if you want to use a hand mixer instead). Beat until fluffy, combined and smooth.

Whisk together milk, sugar, cornflour and matcha powder. Add to the cream mixture and mix until combined. Transfer to a heat-proof bowl, whisk in the 2 eggs (leave extra yolk aside), lemon juice, vanilla bean paste and salt.

Add 2 cups of water to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Place the heatproof bowl with custard mixture on top and continue whisking the custard mixture until it thickens (about 10 mins). You want the consistency to be thick so that when you move your whisk through the mixture it leaves a trail that holds for at least 10 seconds.

Allow mixture to cool completely (you can speed this process up by resting the bowl over a larger bowl of icey water). Whisk regularly while the mixture cools to prevent a skin forming on top.

Preheat oven to 250ºC (230ºC fan). Arrange tart cases on the tray.

Once the mixture has cooled and thickened, spoon or pipe into the tart cases. Whisk the remaining egg yolk with 1 tbsp water and very gently brush over the tops of the custard. Bake for 6-8 mins or until the custard is just set. Watch closely as the cases can burn quite quickly if left too long.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before sprinkling with the gold sugar from The Creative Kitchen Golden Delights jar and decorate with a clover, if using.

#tarts #matcha