Pastel de Nata
Portuguese Custard Tarts
Crisp, flaky pastry, custard that barely holds and a top scorched almost black in patches. Lisbon eats these warm at the counter with cinnamon shaken over them. The difficulty at home is heat. Bakery ovens run far hotter than a domestic one, so everything in this method is about getting yours as hot as it will go. The pastry here is a shortcut, and is labelled as one.
The tart is tied to Belém, on the river west of central Lisbon. According to the bakery that still makes them, Portugal's monasteries were closed in 1834, someone from the Jerónimos monastery began selling sweet pastries through a shop attached to a sugar refinery next door, and production began there in 1837 using the monastery's recipe. That recipe remains secret, known to a few pastry cooks who work behind a closed door.
Only tarts from that bakery are called pastéis de Belém; the name is a registered mark. Everything else, in Portugal and far beyond it, is a pastel de nata. The tart was one of the seven winners of the 2011 public vote on Portuguese gastronomy.
Ingredients
For the cases
- 320 g ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry (one sheet)
- A little soft butter, for the tin
For the custard
- 200 g caster sugar
- 100 ml water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 strip of lemon peel, about 5 cm, no white pith
- 250 ml whole milk
- 30 g plain flour
- A pinch of fine sea salt
- 5 large egg yolks (about 90 g)
To serve
- Ground cinnamon
- Icing sugar
Method
- Heat the oven Put a heavy baking tray on the top shelf and heat the oven to its maximum, at least 250°C (230°C fan). Give it a full 30 minutes.
- Roll the pastry Unroll the pastry sheet and roll it up tightly from one short end into a log. Chill for 20 minutes, then cut into 12 equal slices, each a little under 2 cm thick.
- Line the tin Lightly butter the muffin tin. Put a slice in each hole, cut side up, so that you see the spiral. Dip your thumbs in cold water and press the centre flat against the base, then work the pastry up the sides until it stands just above the rim. The base should be thinner than the walls, about 2 mm. Chill while you make the custard.
- Make the syrup Put the sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon peel in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil without stirring and boil until it reaches 105°C, about 3 minutes. Take it off the heat.
- Thicken the milk Whisk the flour and salt with 50 ml of the cold milk until smooth. Heat the remaining 200 ml until steaming, whisk it into the flour mixture, then return it all to the pan. Cook over a medium heat, whisking constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes, until it thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Combine Remove the cinnamon and peel from the syrup. Pour the hot syrup into the milk mixture in a thin stream, whisking. Leave for 10 minutes, until warm but no longer hot, then whisk in the egg yolks. Strain into a jug. The custard will be thin. That is correct.
- Fill and bake Fill the cases three-quarters full, no more, as the custard rises. Set the tin on the hot tray and bake for 12 to 16 minutes, until the pastry edges are deep brown and crisp and the custard is blistered with dark spots.
- Cool Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack. Eat warm, on the day they are made, dusted with cinnamon and icing sugar.
Food safety
Sugar syrup at 105°C causes serious burns. Pour it slowly and keep children away from the hob.
Wet thumbs stop the pastry sticking and let you push it thin. A thick base stays raw.
Do not overfill. The custard puffs up in the oven and then sinks back.
Dark, almost burnt spots are what you are aiming for. An evenly yellow top means the oven was too cool.