Delicious flakey pastry and a creamy, rich custard filling - the two important elements of the Pasteis de Nata. During a holiday in Lisbon I tried these beautiful pastries for the first time. In Belém, a Western part of the city, you can find "Pastéis de Belém", a small bakery, decorated with the typical blue and white coloured tiles. Founded in 1837, it is the original creator of the typical Pastéis de Nata. I will never forget the moment I ate the Pastéis de Nata - it was incredible! At first I didn't expect a lot since only two basic components form this dessert. But especially because the puff pastry and the custard were so perfectly made, it was a great joy to enjoy them and I could have devoured a couple ones straight away.
The simpler desserts are, the more difficult it is to get them perfect. To find the perfect consistency for the Pastéis de Nata it took me 3 batches, lots of patience and trying out different quantities and techniques. I have baked custards many, many times before but this time the custard was baked in the oven at a very high temperature. So, I had to overthink my typical method and finally found one that worked perfectly.
For 12 Pastéis you will need:
1 muffin baking tray
1 package of rolled puff pastry
1 egg
2 egg yolks
120g caster sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
400ml milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 lemon, peel
1 cinnamon stick
ground cinnamon, icing sugar
First cut off the peel of the lemon. Together with the cinnamon stick and vanilla extract, place the lemon peel with the milk into a pan and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling, turn off the heat and let the milk cool down to room temperature. When it has cooled down, remove the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel. Now you have your beautifully infused milk.
Preheat the oven to 230°C. Grease the muffin tray slightly with a little bit of vegetable oil. In a large bowl mix the egg, egg yolks, caster sugar and corn flour together. Then add the infused milk step by step while whisking until everything is nicely combined. Pour the mixture into a measuring jug.
Take the puff pastry, cut it in the middle into two equally sized big rectangles. Put them on top of each other and roll the whole puff pastry tightly into an even looking log. Cut off 1-2cm thick pieces of it. Wet your thumb with some water and place the dough disk into the muffin tin. With your damp thump push the puff pastry around the tin, so the dough is spread out evenly. Repeat with all the other discs. Last but not least take your measuring jug filled with the custard and fill up the muffin molds. Carefully place the muffin tin into the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the puff pastry is really golden brown and the custard has taken some colour too. Take the muffin tray out and let it slightly cool down. If you want, dust some icing sugar and ground cinnamon over the tarts and enjoy them while still warm.
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