#TelstraFail Season 2 Episode 4 (Final) – after two days of back-and-forths with Netgear, the manufacturer of the modem connected to my Telstra service, I was told that it was definitely a faulty modem.
Good news was that Netgear said they would replace it; bad news was that I had to go through Telstra. Hell would have to freeze over before I went back to the Telstra Shop at Westfield Miranda, so I instead lodged a complaint directly at the Telstra website.
That same evening, I received a phonecall from someone who I’ve since been told is my dedicated Telstra case manager for the next six months (They probably have me flagged as a troublemaker by this stage).
As I write this a week and a half later, I’m in possession of a brand new replacement glitch-free Nighthawk M1, plus a reimbursement from Telstra for a portion of my bill, plus I get to keep the dodgy first modem (well, if nothing else, I don’t have to fuss about sending it back). I’m like the Jack(ie) Bauer of the war on Telstra. #soproud
I’m not about to claim this is anything like the Hokkaido cheese tarts that have populated my Instagram feed in the last 12 months, since I’ve never actually tried one. I was intrigued nonetheless to have a go at making it, minus all the fussy steps that come with your standard baking recipe.
This recipe is (significantly) adapted from https://guide.michelin.sg/baked-cheese-tarts
Baked Asian Cheese Tarts
For the tart pastry –
- 80g plain flour
- 20g cornstarch
- 20g sugar
- 50g salted butter, cut into cubes, cold
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp milk
For the filling –
- 150g cream cheese
- 50g Mascarpone cheese
- 20g Parmesan cheese
- 30g salted butter
- 100g milk
- 60g sugar
- 8-12g corn starch, depending on consistency desired
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt (optional)
- 1 egg yolk for brushing on top of custard
Method –
- To make the pastry, combine all ingredients and lightly work with your hands to produce a soft dough. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate while you make the filling.
- Combine all ingredients except egg yolk and blend, then cook at 80’C for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to a porridgy consistency. I used a Thermocook for this since it handles both the blending and cooking/stirring. You could alternatively cook it using a double boiler (ie. in a bowl sitting on top of a pan of simmering water).
- Preheat oven to 230’C fan mode (unless you’re using an air-fryer like mine, in which case I think 170’C would be plenty).
- Roll and mould pastry into greased tart moulds, prick holes on the base, then bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from moulds, pipe (or spoon) filling into pastry case, brush with egg yolk, and bake 6 minutes.
- Allow to cool, then serve.
Ps. you’ll see in my video I got tired of messing with the dinky little tart moulds and ended up doing one large tart instead. I think I baked the cheese filling for about 15 minutes because of its larger size; it turned out fine as well, though do let it cool down completely before you cut it into slices since the filling will still be soft and a oozy while warm.
*** I used an Optimum HealthyFry and Optimum Thermocook in this post. More details on these appliances can be found at Prestige Home Appliances.
