Pastel de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tart)
Pastel de nata is the Portuguese puff pastry tart filled with egg yolk custard that comes out of the oven spotted dark. The custard is built on a sugar syrup rather than on sugar, and the pastry is rolled into a log and cut into rounds so the base sets in a spiral.
Ingredients
- 500 gpuff pastry
- 500 mlwhole milk
- 6 pcsegg yolks
- 250 gsugar
- 125 mlwater
- 40 gplain flour
- 1 pcscinnamon stick
- 2 pcslemon peel
- 1 pinchsalt
Method
- Put the sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon peel in a small pan and bring to a boil. Cook to 100-104C without stirring once, about three minutes; stirring makes the syrup crystallise.
- Whisk the flour and salt with a splash of the cold milk until smooth, add the rest of the milk and cook over medium heat, whisking, for five minutes until it thickens.
- Strain the hot syrup into the hot milk base in a thin stream while whisking hard. Take out the cinnamon and peel and let the mixture cool for ten minutes.
- Whisk in the egg yolks one at a time, then pass the custard through a sieve into a jug. It stays thin and pourable, which is correct — a thick custard sets rubbery.
- Roll the puff pastry into a tight log, chill it for 20 minutes and cut it into 12 rounds.
- Set each round cut side down in a muffin tin. Dip your thumbs in cold water and press the pastry up the sides so it stands a little above the rim.
- Fill each shell three quarters full and bake on the lowest shelf at the highest setting your oven has, 250-290C, for 12 to 15 minutes until the pastry is golden and the custard is spotted dark. Cool five minutes in the tin, then dust with cinnamon.
FAQ
The oven is not hot enough. Preheat for a full 30 minutes at the maximum setting, bake on the lowest shelf so the heat hits from below, and do not open the door. Spots appear in the last two or three minutes.
Yes, and most home cooks in Portugal do. Buy all-butter pastry, unroll the sheet and roll it into a tight log, then slice it — cutting across the log is what gives you the spiral in the base.
Either the syrup went into the milk base too fast, or the yolks went in while the mixture was still hot. Pour the syrup in a thin stream with the whisk moving, and let the base cool for ten minutes before the yolks.
Pastel de Belém is a protected name used by one bakery in Lisbon that holds the recipe from the Jerónimos monastery. Every other version, in Portugal and elsewhere, is a pastel de nata.
They are at their best within a few hours of baking. Keep them at room temperature for a day, then bring the crispness back in a 200C oven for three or four minutes. The fridge softens the pastry.
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