Egg tarts from KFC

When I found out that 'Egg Tart King' in NYC had disappeared off the face of the earth, almost overnight, I was pretty depressed. It had been my go to place... a shop that I often visited prior to going to work in the mornings... a shop I'd visit on weekends when I was bored. To be frank, I went through something describable only as 'egg tart withdrawal.' Ha, okay, maybe that's not actually true... egg tarts aren't that important to my emotional well being, but I do like them a lot. Something about the piping hot custard (with a distinct temperature gradient from outside to center!) holding together a crumbly warm crust is comforting. When I eat a good egg tart, my frustrations melt away... with my only concern being how I want to approach the pastry to reduce crumblage (is that a word?). Obviously, I have a soft spot for KFC's egg tarts in Taiwan... so when I saw they had a special 'maple syrup' flavored one, I was kind of obligated to try it.

I know what you're thinking... "How in the world can a place specializing in mediocre fried chicken be good at desserts?" I'm not really sure, but I promise you they are. Their regular egg tarts aren't actually egg tarts in the traditional sense... they're actually closer to a puff pastry shell holding a gelatin based egg custard (this is so you can actually put them in your freezer to chill... also crazy good). Anyway, for 31 NT (~$1) you get an individual pastry, or for 158 NT you can get 6. These 'maple syrup' egg tarts are actually layered with a thick syrup base, covered by an egg custard top, graced with a little bit of whipped creme and maple syrup topping. The base is the same, which is to say... buttery and flaky, and the filling is strong with the taste of maple syrup. Consistency is where this shines, as it retains the 'QQ' feeling of a full custard, but with the gluey characteristics of the syrup.

Ahh, as for my impression? I thoroughly enjoyed the spin on an otherwise classic Asian dessert (or is it Portuguese?), and I did care more about dropping custard on the ground than anything else at the time. With that said... 31 NT is a bit high for something so small (yes I know I'm complaining about $1), but when you can readily get obanyaki for around 10 NT per... that seems a bit pricey. Still... it's worth a try. Plus there's something about getting dessert from KFC that I find overwhelmingly satisfying.