Pastel de Nata: a traditional Portuguese custard tart
These tasty treats originated in 18th century Lisbon. Today, these flaky, buttery custard tarts can be found all over Portugal, as a delicious staple sweet on breakfast buffets, as a treat to accompany an afternoon coffee, or as a light after dinner dessert. On menus and in bakeries , you will see "Pastel de Nata" (singular) or "Pasteis de Nata" (plural). What follows is the recipe received from a workshop attended in Porto, where we learned to make these yummy tarts.
Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
Yield: 18-24 dozen tarts
(It is uncertain exactly how many tarts will be made, since the tins were smaller than what would be made using muffin tins. It was also noted that individual quiche tins can be used, but the amount dough would need to be adapted for the larger "mold". )
Syrup:
200 grams sugar
100 ml water
2 – peels from a lemon
1 – cinnamon stick
Cream:
15 grams flour
10 grams corn starch
250 ml whole milk
6 egg yolks
(optional additional 100 ml milk during assembly)
Puff Pastry:
One package of frozen puff pastry made with butter
Finishing:
Ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
1. Make the Syrup
Pre-heat the oven to 480°F.
Add syrup ingredients to a cold saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat WITHOUT stirring. Once it is actively boiling throughout the pot, time it for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Prepare the Cream
Mix the flour, corn starch and 250 ml of milk in a second saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and thick.
Gradually pour in the syrup in the thin stream, mixing well.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks. While whisking, add a few tablespoons of the hot cream mixture to temper the yolks, then whisk the yolks into the cream mixture, and set aside. (At the workshop, the lemon peels and the cinnamon stick were left in the cream mixture to infuse their flavour.)
3. Mold the puff pastry
Roll the puff pastry into a log, and cut into equal pieces, about 20 grams each. (Will look like pinwheels of dough.) Place pinwheels of dough, lying flat, into each tart mold or cup of muffin tin, and press with moistened thumbs up the sides into a cup shape, to the top of the sides of the mold.
4. Fill the molds
Pour the cream mixture through a sieve into a large measuring couple to remove lumps, lemon peels and cinnamon stick. (If a creamy tart texture is desired, whisk in up to 100 ml of milk. Without this extra milk, the custard will be more firm.) Pour or spoon the custard into the tarts to be about 2/3 full.
5. Bake
Place tray of tarts in the hot oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden on top.
May be served warm or cold. They are really nice with a light sprinkle of ground cinnamon on top!
