Mini Egg Pies with creamy custard filling and a super buttery crust are the ultimate snack or dessert. They are fun to eat and make a great party or on-the-go sweet treat.
Before there was Kawaling Pinoy, my long-time dream was to have my own restaurant or catering services. Over the years, I thought of quitting my full-time job and taking the risky plunge, but the prospect of jumping into the water with both feet was daunting, especially with a dependent child still in college.
All I could do was take small steps and see where they brought me. I contacted a few restaurants, and Asian supermarkets in our area to offer my mini egg pies, leche flan, and cassava cake on a consignment basis and had a friend design a packaging label on Photoshop for my products.
I'd come home from work late in the afternoon, bake my goodies till dawn, and deliver them the next day before I went to work again. It was an exhausting one-person show but nonetheless exciting.
If you happened to be at a certain Asian supermarket in Carson, California mid-October of 2010 and saw a suspicious-looking woman taking pictures of their refrigerator, that would have been me. It was so surreal to see something I baked actually on the shelves for sale!
Unfortunately, after a year of sweating it out, I had to accept it was all but wishful thinking. Although the venture was successful on its own merits, it was too small-scaled to warrant hiring another pair of hands to help or to give up my job to focus on it a hundred percent.
But even if I don't sell these mini egg pies anymore, I still regularly make them for potlucks or gatherings. Conveniently bite-sized with a crust so crisp and flaky and a custard filling so smooth and velvety!
Give them a try and let me know in the comments if I could have been the next Sara Lee if I held on to the dream a little longer. 🙂
Helpful tips
- The key to buttery, flaky crusts is starting with VERY cold ingredients. I recommend freezing the butter cubes and chilling the flour for a few minutes to maintain cool temperatures.
- For a tender crust, use ice-cold water and add just enough amount for the dough to hold together. The dough should not be sticky but shaggy and feel almost dry to the touch.
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out, especially during hot weather. Work fast while rolling and lining the muffin pans, so the dough doesn't heat up. If it softens, tears apart, or sticks on the work surface, return it to the refrigerator to chill for about 5 minutes.
- Handle the dough gently and do not over-manipulate to prevent gluten formation.
How to store
Wrap the pies tightly with film, transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid, and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Note that the crust can become soggy over time.
For the Crust
- 8 ounces butter
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup ice water
For the Custard FIlling
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
- 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
- Cut butter into cubes and freeze for about 30 minutes to an hour.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and sugar and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Add butter to flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or by pinching the fat into the flour mixture with hands. Work them together until resembling coarse cornmeal with pea-like, butter-speckled pieces.
- Slowly drizzle ice water to the flour-butter mixture and with hands, mix until just combined. Gently gather dough and press into a ball. If the dough is too crumbly and does not hold together, add more water a tablespoon at a time. DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH LIQUID and DO NOT OVERWORK DOUGH.
- Wrap dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine egg yolks, evaporated milk, and condensed milk until blended. Using a cheesecloth, strain custard mixture.
- Divide dough into 12 balls. Place each ball between two sheets of parchment paper and with a rolling pin, gently flatten each ball into 4-inch diameter and ⅛-inch thickness.
- Spray holes of a 12-hole muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Lift each flattened dough and place into each muffin holes and with hands, gently press on sides and bottom. Trim off excess dough on edges.
- Pour custard mixture into prepared dough-lined muffin pan up to ¾ full.
- Bake in a 350 F oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle of custard comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing from pan. Best served at room temperature.
- The key to buttery, flaky crusts is starting with VERY cold ingredients. I recommend freezing the butter cubes and chilling the flour for a few minutes to maintain cool temperatures.
- For a tender crust, use ice-cold water and add just enough amount for the dough to hold together. The dough should not be sticky but shaggy and feel almost dry to the touch.
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out, especially during hot weather. Work fast while rolling and lining the muffin pans, so the dough doesn't heat up. If it softens, tears apart, or sticks on the work surface, return it to the refrigerator to chill for about 5 minutes.
- Handle the dough gently and do not over-manipulate to prevent gluten formation.
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Liza says
Hello i was planning to make 6 mini pies instead of 12,do you have any advise on how will I reduced the ingredients amt.
Thank!s
Hilda says
I made this but with Pillsbury frozen pie crust. It turned out perfect! So easy and so delicious! Thank you!
Heart says
Hello po. I love all your recipes.
Just to make sure the butter is salted right?
Thank you and God bless.