Yummy egg tarts @ Chia Te Bakery, Taipei

Based on what I've seen and the food samples handed out to me while walking through the food basement level of Taipei 101 and around the streets of Taipei in general, pineapple cake is a big thing to buy in Taiwan. My friend and travelling companion had the name of two bakeries most well-known in Taipei for their pineapple cake, and Chia Te was one of them. So famous is Chia Te, that there are often long queues of people buying its delicious baked goods by the boxes. Indeed, Chia Te's pineapple cakes are delicious, even winning the bakery first place in a pineapple cake contest, but I want to highlight the egg tarts sold here. I live in Hong Kong, the land of yummy egg tarts, and I have been to Macau and had Portuguese egg tarts several times, so I know a good egg tart when I eat one. The type sold at Chia Te features a deep-pan shortcrust pastry, and the egg custard is cooked perfectly through despite its depth. It's absolutely divine when eaten fresh out of the oven, but I did buy a few more to bring home the next day, and I found that the quality suffered a little with the shortcrust pastry absorbing some of the egg custard moisture. Hubby and the kids were nonetheless appreciative and the tarts were polished off within minutes.

Pastries galore:

My humble purchase compared to the multiple boxes other customers were paying for:

A box of half-dozen egg tarts:

Just look at that custardy goodness and the crumbly pastry:

So yummy:

Chia Te Bakery
No. 88, Section 5
Nanjing East Road
Songshan District, Taipei City
Taiwan 105
Tel. +886 2 8787 8186