Go Back
–+ servings
A hokkaido cheese tart, cut in half, being picked up by a hand.

Hokkaido-Style Baked Cheese Tarts

If you love cheesecake and custard tarts equally, you must have heard of a beautiful combination of the two, called Baked Cheese Tarts! Originating in the island of Hokkaido, Japan, these dairy treats include a flaky buttery pastry filled with mildly sweet cheese filling, finished with a lightly torched caramelised top!
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chilling Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 12 tartlets
Calories 196 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

  • 375 g ready-rolled shortcrust pastry
  • 200 g cream cheese full-fat
  • 30 g parmesan finely grated
  • 80 ml whole milk
  • 40 g caster sugar
  • 15 g cornflour (cornstarch)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
  • ½ lemon juice only
  • 1 large egg lightly beaten
  • 1 egg yolk for egg wash

Instructions
 

STEP 1: Make The Creamy Cheese Filling

  • Start by making your cheese filling for the tarts. Add milk, butter, cream cheese and parmesan to a heavy-bottomed pan. Set it over low heat and stir continuously until the cheeses melt and the mixture has almost no lumps in it.
  • Add the caster sugar and cornflour and mix again. Then tip in the lemon juice and vanilla. Stirring vigorously, pour in the beaten egg.
  • Adjust the stove to medium heat and keep on stirring, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom to prevent lumps from forming. Keep mixing until the cheese mixture thickens. Look for a thick custard consistency that will be pipeable when cooled. The process should take about 8-10 minutes.
  • Once thick enough, take the mixture off the heat. Set a fine sieve over a bowl, and push the creamy cheese filling through the sieve with a rubber spatula to ensure no lumps remain.
  • Place a piece of plastic wrap (cling film) over the top of the filling (so that the wrap directly touches the filling) and set it aside to cool down. The cling film will prevent the crust from forming. Once cooled down, transfer the filling to the fridge for at least 1 hour to firm up.

STEP 2: Bake Tart Cases

  • Unroll the shop-bought pastry, and, using a cookie cutter, stamp out 12x 9cm (3.5in) circles. Gently press pastry dough into the muffin tin holes. If you have any excess dough, you can reroll it and make more tartlet cases.
  • Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork and place the tin in the freezer for 20 minutes.
  • In the meantime, preheat the oven to 170°C Fan. Place the tart crust in the lower half of the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes until the cases are golden brown.
  • Once baked, transfer the tartlet cases onto a wire rack to cool completely.

STEP 3: Assemble

  • When you are ready to assemble, fill a piping bag with the cheese mixture. Pipe it into each of the baked tart shell, then place the filled cheese tarts in the freezer for 20-30 minutes, until the top is firm enough to the egg wash.
  • In the meantime, beat the egg yolk with a teaspoon of water in a small bowl. Preheat the grill to high (or alternatively, you can use a kitchen blowtorch).
  • Using a pastry brush, gently brush the egg-wash mixture on top of the cheese filling. Place the Japanese Cheese Tarts under the grill for 4-5 minutes until the tops brown. Use a kitchen blow torch for an extra torched exterior!
  • Serve Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tarts warm, at room temperature, or cold!

Notes

To Make Your Own Tart Crust Pastry:
  • 150g all-purpose flour
  • 75g unsalted butter, fridge cold, cubed
  • 30g icing sugar (optional)
  • 1 egg yolk
Put the flour and cubed butter in a large mixing bowl. With your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. If you have a food processor, it is highly recommended that you use it – just pulse the flour and butter until you have a mixture that looks like sand. 
Mix in icing sugar (if you like your pies extra sweet) and a pinch of salt. Add egg yolk into the flour mixture and stir it in. With your hands, bring the mixture together into a ball. If it is too dry and crumbly, add a tablespoon of water. Knead it very briefly until it comes to a ball of dough – the less you knead, the flakier the pastry will be when cooked.
Flatten the ball of dough, wrap it in clingfilm and pop it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. Once chilled, take the pastry out of the fridge and on a floured surface, using a rolling pin, roll the pastry into a large circle, about 3mm thick. Carry on with the pastry shell recipe below!

Nutrition

Calories: 196kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 5gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.002gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 252mgPotassium: 71mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 297IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 63mgIron: 1mg
Keyword bake cheese tarts, hokkaido baked cheese tart, hokkaido baked cheese tarts, hokkaido cheese tart
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!