Portuguese Custard Tarts
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.
Servings 12 tarts
Calories 230kcal
Ingredients
Homemade Pastry
- 110 grams / 3.9 ounces butter room temperature
- 80 grams / ⅓ cup water
- 160 grams / 1 cup plain flour
Sugar syrup
- 160 grams / ¾ cup + ¾ tablespoon superfine/caster sugar
- 80 grams / ⅓ cup water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 inch lemon peel
Custard
- 360 grams / 1 ½ cups milk
- 60 grams / ⅓ cup + 1 level tablespoon flour
- 16 grams / 2 tablespoons cornflour
- 90 grams / 5 large 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 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 in one direction 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 in one direction 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 into your muffin tray and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- Lightly wet your fingertips and press the dough into your muffin tin firmly until it is just above the lip of your tin. Set aside.
Sugar syrup
- Meanwhile, place the sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon peel in 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 whisk in the milk and flour mixture, 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.
- Bake for 16 minutes or until golden and caramelized.
- Remove and allow to cool completely.
- Serve up and dig in!
Notes
- Plain flour: All purpose or plain flour work here to create a soft dough that is easy to work with as you layer in the butter.
- 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.
- 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. If you only have ground cinnamon, add ¼ teaspoon to the cornflour and whisk into your eggs to infuse with the same flavor.
- 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.
- Muffin tin: A standard 12 cup capacity muffin tin was used and is best here.
Nutrition
Calories: 230kcal