Hokkaido Cheese Tarts (the BEST Baked Japanese Tart Recipe)

5 from 2 votes

These Hokaiddo cheese tarts are baked in buttery shells and filled with creamy cheese filling for a truly easy and delicious treats. Try them!

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Chilling & Resting Time30

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Japanese

Servings: tarts

Calories: 252.2kcal

Measure the flour into a medium bowl.
Cut cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour.
Mix both with your fingertips or a cake mixer or a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make sure there are no solid bits of butter left unmixed.
Add the powdered sugar and salt and combined well. At this stage, the mixture would still look like breadcrumbs.
Next, add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix the ingredients until a dough is formed. Do not overmix, suffice if all the ingredients come together into a smooth ball.
Set it aside for about 10 minutes to rest. Once rested, knead lightly and divide the dough into 15 to 16 portions.
Form each portion into round balls.
Flatten each ball with your fingers to form a round disc.
Place the disc into the tart mold and press it down gently to follow the shape of the mold. In doing this, pay attention to the thickness of the pastry to ensure it is consistent for an even baking.
Trim off the excess at the edges with a sharp knife or press it down with your fingers to flatten it.
Use a fork to poke in the center. This will avoid the centers from puffing up as they bake.
Place the shells in a pre heated oven and bake for 15 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius until they turn golden brown. Do not over bake.
Remove the pastry from oven and let them cool slightly before removing the casings. Let the shells cool completely before using. The shells can be baked a few days in advance and stored in an airtight container until ready to use.

Measure milk and cream into a cup.
Separately, measure sugar into a small bowl. Add the corn starch and mix well to combine.
Add 1 tablespoon of the milk-cream mixture into the sugar. Mix to form a paste.
Add the egg yolk to the mixture and mix well. Set aside.
In a separate saucepan, measure all the cheeses - cream cheese, parmesan cheese and mascarpone cheese.
Add the butter and the remaining milk mixture.
Place the saucepan on medium low heat and cook the mixture until the cheeses melt completely and the mixture is all smooth. Stir constantly to avoid the mixture from burning and adjust the heat to low if necessary.
Turn off the heat and add the sugar-egg mixture. Stir quickly to avoid the egg from curdling.
Turn on the heat again to a low flame. Continue cooking the cheese custard until it thickens. The filling does not thicken further after cooling so you can assess the thickness you wish for your tarts at this point.
Remove from heat. Strain the custard with a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps. Use a spoon to gently push the custard through if it is thick.
Transfer the filling into a separate container and cover the top with a plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap is touching the surface of the filling to avoid skin forming on the surface as it cools down.
Let the filling cool completely before using. If not using on the same day, refrigerate it.

Transfer the cooked cheese mixture into a piping bag. Snip the tip.
Pipe it into the tart shells until it is of the same level as the sides of the shells. Do this for all the tarts.
If the filling is thick, tap the tray of tarts lightly on your kitchen counter to level it.
Place the Hokkaido cheese tarts into the freezer for about 5 minutes. This step is to firm up the filling so that it is easier to apply the egg wash on top. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Remove from the cheese tarts from the freezer. Brush the top with egg yolk.
Bake the tarts in the oven for 5 minutes until the egg wash is cooked. To achieve the slightly charred tops, place the tarts in the top section of your oven and adjust the setting to a grill mode. Pay close attention to the tart at this stage as there is a tendency for the tart shells to burn. An easy option would be to use a blow torch to char the egg yolk.
Remove the Hokkaido tarts from the oven and let them cool before serving. If you like them warm, serve while they are warm. The tarts are also great when served chilled.

The Hokkaido cheese tart dough is mixed using the rub-in method, whereby the butter is cut into or rubbed into the flour to form breadcrumbs-like texture before being mixed into a dough with the egg. To achieve the breadcrumb-like texture, the butter must be cold and solid (not room temperature).

This rubbing in process helps to coat the flour particles with butter, preventing gluten development. And this in turn helps with the lovely crisp texture of the crust. For best results, the butter must be cold.

For a smooth and creamy filling, make sure the cheeses melt completely when making the filling.

It also helps to run through the cooked filling in a sieve to remove any lumps.