Pastéis de Nata

60 mins

8 people

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Total Time

60 mins

Pastéis de Nata are traditional Portuguese custard tarts made from a rich egg custard flavoured with cinnamon and lemon and a shatteringly crisp puff pastry. The best place to eat these delicious Portuguese tarts is in the Belém quarter of Lisbon, in the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém an old patisserie shop dating back to 1837, where thousands of Pastéis are sold every day. If you haven’t got time to make puff pastry from scratch, you can use ready-made all butter puff pastry. The secret to making good Pastéis de Nata is to get your oven very hot and make sure you brown the tarts really well, almost to the point they look burnt. They are best eaten warm the day they’re made.

Ingredients
Method

600g puff pastry (see recipe)
500ml whole milk
Peel of one lemon, no white rind
1 stick of cinnamon
60g plain flour
500g caster sugar
250ml water
7 egg yolks
Soft butter for greasing

Pre-heat the oven at 250˚C/˚F/Gas Mark.
Start by greasing a large muffin tray or 16 small individual moulds with some butter. Roll out the puff pastry into a thin rectangular sheet, about 3mm thick. From the longest side of the rectangle, roll the pastry into a tight log, trim the ends and cut the log into 1cm thick slices. Place one pastry slice into each mold, and press the pastry from the center outwards, so the pastry spreads evenly and reaches all the edges of the mould, chill in the refrigerator.
To make the filling, place the flour into a bowl and whisk in some of the milk until well combined and free of lumps. In a medium size sauce pan, heat the remaining milk, lemon peel and cinnamon stick for a few minutes without boiling it, remove from the heat, cover and allow to infuse for 10 minutes. While the milk is infusing, bring the sugar and water to the boil in another medium size sauce pan and allow to boil for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. Discard the lemon peel and cinnamon stick from the infused milk and bring to the boil. Just before the milk boils, add the milk and flour mix and whisk until well combined. The liquid will begin to thicken, so lower your heat and cook for about 2 minutes, constantly stirring it.
Start to add on a slow stream the sugar syrup, whisking constantly until well combined. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, again whisking constantly until well combined. Allow the mix to cook the egg yolks for about 2 minutes on a low heat, constantly whisking the mix.
Pour the batter on each puff pastry tartlet without reaching the top of the rim and bake for 18 minutes or until the Pastéis are heavily brown and puffed up. Cool down on a wire tray before serving.

Ingredients

600g puff pastry (see recipe)
500ml whole milk
Peel of one lemon, no white rind
1 stick of cinnamon
60g plain flour
500g caster sugar
250ml water
7 egg yolks
Soft butter for greasing

Method

Pre-heat the oven at 250˚C/˚F/Gas Mark.
Start by greasing a large muffin tray or 16 small individual moulds with some butter. Roll out the puff pastry into a thin rectangular sheet, about 3mm thick. From the longest side of the rectangle, roll the pastry into a tight log, trim the ends and cut the log into 1cm thick slices. Place one pastry slice into each mold, and press the pastry from the center outwards, so the pastry spreads evenly and reaches all the edges of the mould, chill in the refrigerator.
To make the filling, place the flour into a bowl and whisk in some of the milk until well combined and free of lumps. In a medium size sauce pan, heat the remaining milk, lemon peel and cinnamon stick for a few minutes without boiling it, remove from the heat, cover and allow to infuse for 10 minutes. While the milk is infusing, bring the sugar and water to the boil in another medium size sauce pan and allow to boil for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. Discard the lemon peel and cinnamon stick from the infused milk and bring to the boil. Just before the milk boils, add the milk and flour mix and whisk until well combined. The liquid will begin to thicken, so lower your heat and cook for about 2 minutes, constantly stirring it.
Start to add on a slow stream the sugar syrup, whisking constantly until well combined. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, again whisking constantly until well combined. Allow the mix to cook the egg yolks for about 2 minutes on a low heat, constantly whisking the mix.
Pour the batter on each puff pastry tartlet without reaching the top of the rim and bake for 18 minutes or until the Pastéis are heavily brown and puffed up. Cool down on a wire tray before serving.

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Chef's Profile

Javier De La Hormaza

Javier is a Basque born, trained chef and hospitality professional, owner of Basco Fine Foods, a Spanish food and drink importer based in Yorkshire. He regularly runs client food and drink events around the country and he is a course tutor at Hartingtons of Bakewell cookery school. Javier's passion lies on bringing quality Spanish ingredients and recipes to as many people as possible.

Twitter: @bascofinefoods
Instagram: @mrbasco