Get ready to experience the taste of Portugal with our delicious Portuguese Custard Tarts recipe! These rich and creamy tarts are filled with a smooth and velvety custard, perfectly balanced with a flaky and crispy crust.
This classic dessert is a must-try for any pastry lover. Follow our easy step-by-step guide and create these irresistible tarts in your own kitchen. Impress your friends and family with our Portuguese Custard Tarts recipe today!
Pastéis de Nata has the richest custard on earth thanks to a high quantity of egg yolks and flaky pastry that is reminiscent of croissant dough. The recipe for these custard tarts can be made all in a day or, if you want, the pastry made ahead and kept covered in the fridge overnight to make your custard and bake these freshly the next morning.
Why you’ll love this
Crispy pastry
The light pastry has a crispy and crunch texture that parallels the sweet custard filling beautifully.
Layers of flavor in the custard
Thanks to the infusion of cinnamon and citrus peel to the custard, the custard tarts aren’t too rich or heavy.
Ingredients and substitutions for Portuguese Custard Tarts
- Plain flour: All purpose or plain flour work here to create a soft dough that is both easy to work with as you layer in the butter.
- Butter: The chilled butter that results in those croissant like layers is unsalted, though you could absolutely use salted and omit the salt into your dough. You could substitute non dairy butter in equal measure, however, I have not tried this.
- Sugar: Superfine or caster sugar is best because of how easily it dissolves and adds sweetness without additional flavors to our custard. Raw sugar or light brown sugar are good substitutes, though the result might be a caramel flavor to the custard.
- Milk: Whole milk is the base of this dish, resulting in that creamy custard and is recommended for making the custard as traditional as possible. If you prefer, a creamy dairy free milk would work. The weight of the milk in grams is 368.
- Egg yolks: Adding structure and making our custard what it is, result in our rich and creamy custard with the large egg yolks weighing a total of 87 grams.
- Corn starch: Sometimes termed cornflour in certain parts of the globe. Corn starch is what gives our pudding that thick texture without being runny. It does need to be heated to 95C/203F before it is activated to thicken.
- Lemon peel: It is recommended to wash your lemon in warm filtered water with a teaspoon of baking soda for 5 minutes. And the peel helps give a depth of flavor to our custard helping balance the sweetness.
- Cinnamon stick: The cinnamon stick results in a soft flavor of cinnamon through our custard alongside the light citrus flavors so it’s best not to skip on adding this also. In other words, if you only have ground cinnamon, add ¼ teaspoon to the cornflour and whisk into your eggs to infuse with the same flavor.
See recipe card for quantities.
Equipment needed to make these
Mixing bowl: You'll need a medium bowl for the pastry.
Saucepan: You’ll need one or two small saucepan’s here to create the sugar syrup and our custard.
Rolling pin: A rolling pin will help you achieve a nice consistent pastry and rolled out butter, however, you could substitute a wine bottle for similar results.
FAQ's for the best Portuguese Custard Tarts
What is the difference between Pastel de Belem or de Nata?
They are one and the same, the simple difference is the name. De Nata is what those in the north of Portugal call these custard tarts versus the Pastel de Belem being the term from southern Portugal.
Can you use storebought pastry from Pasteis de Nata?
Definitely! The best substitute is puff pastry that will create the flaky texture you'll know and love.
More custard recipes you'll love
How to make Pastéis de Nata - Portuguese Custard Tarts:
Place the butter between two pieces of greaseproof paper and fold into a square of 15 cm / 6 inches, fully enclosed on all sides.
Tap the butter lightly with a rolling pin to flatten until you can roll it evenly all the way to the edges.
Place into the fridge to firm up slightly whilst you make the dough.
Place the flour and water into a large bowl and stir together to form your dough.
Set aside to rest for 15 minutes.
Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll the dough out to a 28 centimeter / 11 inch square.
Remove the butter from the fridge 5 minutes before placing onto the dough, it should be chilled, but not super firm.
Place the butter diagonally in the center of the dough so you have the square dough with a diamond butter square in the center.
Fold the corners of the dough over like you would if you create a square envelope to fully cover the butter, ensure you cannot see any of it once the dough is pinched closed.
Roll the dough out to a rectangle and then fold in 3 to a wide rectangle.
Cover and place the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.
Remove from the fridge and roll the dough out to a rectangle and then fold in 3 to a wide rectangle.
Cover and return to the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.
Meanwhile, place the sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon peel into a saucepan on medium high heat, simmering until a candy thermometer registers 104C/220F.
Remove and discard the cinnamon stick and lemon peel. Set aside to cool completely.
Preheat your oven to 270C/520F.
Remove from the fridge and roll out to ¼ inch thickness approximately 30 centimeters / 12 inches wide and brush the surface with water.
Roll into a log, trimming the edges and slicing into 12 even pieces, approximately 1 inch wide.
Place each into your muffin tray and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Lightly wet your fingertips and press the dough into your muffin tin firmly and allow the pastry to come just above the lip of your tin. Set aside.
For the custard, set aside 83 grams milk / ⅓ cup of the milk, adding the flour and cornflour to the portion and stirring until it is combined and a smooth paste.
Pour the remaining milk into a small saucepan on medium heat until simmering.
Slowly pour in the milk and flour mixture, whisking until thickened and bubbling, approximately 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat and pour in the sugar syrup, stirring to combine.
Add in the egg yolks, whisking swiftly to incorporate.
Pour the custard into the prepared pastries and place into the oven.
Bake for 16 minutes or until golden and caramelized.
Remove and allow to cool completely.
Serve up and dig in!
Portuguese Custard Tarts
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 16 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 16 minutes
- Yield: Makes 12 tarts
- Category: Pies & Tarts
- Cuisine: Portuguese
Description
This Pastéis de Nata - Portuguese Custard Tarts recipe results in the richest custard infused with ground cinnamon and citrus enveloped in a buttery pastry. These custard tarts can be made in one day or the pastry made ahead and baked the next morning.
Ingredients
Homemade Pastry
110 grams / 3.9 ounces butter, room temperature
80 milliliters / ⅓ cup water
160 grams / 1 cup plain flour
Sugar syrup
160 grams / ¾ cup + ¾ tablespoon superfine/caster sugar
80 milliliters / ⅓ cup water
1 cinnamon stick
1 inch lemon peel
Custard
368 grams / 1 ½ cups milk
60 grams / ⅓ cup + 1 level tablespoon flour
16 grams / 2 tablespoons cornflour
6 egg yolks
Instructions
Homemade pastry
- To prepare your butter, place between two pieces of greaseproof paper and fold into a square of 15 cm / 6 inches.
- Tap the butter lightly with a rolling pin to flatten until you can roll it evenly all the way to the edges.
- Place into the fridge to firm up slightly whilst you make the dough.
- Place the flour and water into a large bowl and stir together to form your dough.
- Set aside to rest for 15 minutes.
- Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll the dough out to a 28 centimeter / 11 inch square.
- Remove the butter from the fridge 5 minutes before placing onto the dough, it should be chilled, but not super firm.
- Place the butter diagonally in the center of the dough so you have the square dough with a diamond butter square in the center.
- Fold the corners of the dough over like you would if you create a square envelope to fully cover the butter, ensure you cannot see any of it once the dough is pinched closed.
- Roll the dough out to a rectangle and then fold in 3 to a wide rectangle.
- Cover and place the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.
- Remove from the fridge and roll the dough out to a rectangle and then fold in 3 to a wide rectangle.
- Cover and return to the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.
- Remove from the fridge and roll out to ¼ inch thickness approximately 30 centimeters / 12 inches wide and brush the surface with water.
- Roll into a log, trimming the edges and slicing into 12 even pieces, approximately 1 inch wide.
- Place each into your muffin tray and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- Lightly wet your fingertips and press the dough into your muffin tin firmly and allow the pastry to come just above the lip of your tin. Set aside.
Sugar syrup
- Meanwhile, place the sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon peel into a saucepan on medium high heat, simmering until a candy thermometer registers 104C/220F.
- Remove and discard the cinnamon stick and lemon peel. Set aside to cool completely.
Custard
- Preheat your oven to 270C/520F.
- For the custard, set aside 83 grams milk / ⅓ cup of the milk, adding the flour and cornflour to the portion and stirring until it is combined and a smooth paste.
- Pour the remaining milk into a small saucepan on medium heat until simmering.
- Slowly pour in the milk and flour mixture, whisking until thickened and bubbling, approximately 3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and pour in the sugar syrup, stirring to combine.
- Add in the egg yolks, whisking swiftly to incorporate.
- Pour the custard into the prepared pastries and place into the oven.
- Bake for 16 minutes or until golden and caramelized.
- Remove and allow to cool completely.
- Serve up and dig in!
Notes
Adapted from visitportugal.com
Nutrition
- Calories: 230 calories per tart
Keywords: custard, portuguese recipes, custard tarts
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