A hojicha pastry cream tart with one slice cut, in front of a Kura-ge Terre Hojicha tin.

Hojicha Tart With Pastry Cream

A hojicha tart on a blind-baked crust, filled with tea-flavored pastry cream and chilled before serving.

By Roseline Zhou, Founder

Contents

A hojicha tart needs two preparations before assembly: a blind-baked sweet pastry crust and pastry cream flavored with hojicha, a roasted Japanese green tea. The cream contains about 5 tsp (10 g) powdered hojicha. Allow 4 hours 30 minutes for eight slices, including cooling and chilling.

We bake the crust before filling it because the cream does not go back into the oven. Both parts must be cold when assembled. Unlike Kura-ge’s rhubarb-raspberry tart, this one contains neither fruit. Its separately baked crust sets it apart from other hojicha and genmaicha pastries served by the spoon or in slices.

  • Preparation 45 minutes
  • Baking and cooking 45 minutes
  • Rest 2 hours 30 minutes
  • Cooling 30 minutes
  • Total time 4 hours 30 minutes
  • Servings 8 slices
  • Tools a 9 1/2-inch (24 cm) tart pan, two bowls, a saucepan, a whisk, a spatula, a rolling pin, a fork, a sieve, parchment paper, pie weights, a dish, plastic wrap, a knife, and an oven

Ingredients for eight slices of hojicha tart

  • 7 oz (200 g) wheat flour for the pastry
  • 3.5 oz (100 g) cold unsalted butter for the pastry
  • 2.5 oz (70 g) powdered sugar for the pastry
  • 1 medium egg, about 1.8 oz (50 g) without its shell, for the pastry
  • About 1/3 tsp (2 g) salt for the pastry
  • about 2 cups (500 ml) whole milk for the cream
  • 3 medium egg yolks, about 1.9 oz (55 g), for the cream
  • 2.8 oz (80 g) sugar for the cream
  • 1.4 oz (40 g) cornstarch for the cream
  • about 5 tsp (10 g) powdered hojicha for the cream
  • 0.7 oz (20 g) unsalted butter for the cream

Bake the crust, thicken the cream, and assemble

A hand spreads hojicha cream into a baked tart shell.
  1. Mix 7 oz (200 g) flour, 2.5 oz (70 g) powdered sugar, and about 1/3 tsp (2 g) salt in a bowl.
  2. Rub in 3.5 oz (100 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes, until the mixture is crumbly.
  3. Stir in the egg, about 1.8 oz (50 g) without its shell.
  4. Bring the pastry together without kneading it for long.
  5. Flatten it into a disk.
  6. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap.
  7. Refrigerate the pastry for 30 minutes.
  8. Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C) on a conventional setting near the end of the rest.
  9. Roll the chilled pastry to about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick.
  10. Line the 9 1/2-inch (24 cm) tart pan with the pastry.
  11. Prick the base with a fork.
  12. Cover the base with parchment paper.
  13. Spread pie weights over the paper.
  14. Blind-bake the crust for 20 minutes at 355°F (180°C).
  15. Remove the weights and parchment.
  16. Keep baking the crust for 10 minutes at 355°F (180°C), until lightly colored.
  17. Sift 1.4 oz (40 g) cornstarch with about 5 tsp (10 g) hojicha into a second bowl.
  18. Whisk the 3 yolks, about 1.9 oz (55 g), with 2.8 oz (80 g) sugar.
  19. Stir the cornstarch and hojicha mixture into the yolks.
  20. Heat about 2 cups (500 ml) whole milk in a saucepan for about 5 minutes, until it starts to simmer.
  21. Gradually pour the warm milk over the yolks, whisking.
  22. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
  23. Thicken the cream over medium heat for about 9 minutes, stirring.
  24. Keep it at a gentle simmer for 1 minute, stirring.
  25. Off the heat, stir in 0.7 oz (20 g) unsalted butter for the cream.
  26. Spread the cream in a shallow dish.
  27. Place plastic wrap directly against the cream.
  28. Let the crust and cream cool for 30 minutes at room temperature.
  29. Spread the cooled cream in the cold tart crust.
  30. Refrigerate the filled tart for 2 hours.
  31. Cut the cold tart into eight slices.

The cream should hold the whisk's trail before you spread it. If too runny, it won't hold when cut. Keep the tart cold until serving. We make the cream while the crust bakes, then let both cool before assembling.

What the cream changes in this tart

The hojicha stays in the filling over an already baked crust. If you want a small molded pastry without a cream that needs to set, hojicha madeleines go into the oven after their cold rest.

Which hojicha should flavor the filling?

For this pastry cream with milk and sugar, we choose Hojicha Terre. Sift the powder with the cornstarch to spread it evenly. Steeping leaves would not give the same amount of tea in this recipe.

Our tip. Press the wrap against the cream, then wait for both the crust and filling to cool before assembling.

Allergens. Wheat (gluten), eggs, and milk.

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