Portuguese custard tarts (Pasteis de nata)

Try this Portuguese classic at home. The recipe from London's Portal restaurant is a little tricky but worth the effort

Recipe uploaded by

olive magazine

9 ratings 5

Recipe by olive magazine

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Tested

Difficulty and servings

Makes 12

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 15 mins

Cook 30 mins

plus cooling

Tip the sugar, lemon and cinnamon into a pan with 125ml water and bring to a boil. Mix the flour, cornflour and vanilla with a small amount of milk until you have a smooth paste. Bring the rest of the milk to a boil, then pour it onto the flour mixture, whisking continuously. Pour back into a clean pan and bring to a simmer, whisking until the mixture thickens. Remove the cinnamon and lemon then stir both mixtures together and add the eggs, bring back to a simmer and whisk until smooth. Pour into a jug, cover the surface with clingfilm and allow to cool.
Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7 and put a baking sheet in the oven for bottom heat. Roll out the puff pastry on a clean work surface lightly dusted with flour and icing sugar. Cut the pastry in half and lay one sheet on top of the other. Roll the pastry sheets up like a Swiss roll and cut the roll into twelve slices about 1 cm - 2cm thick.
Lay each of the pastry slices flat on the work surface and roll them out into 10cm discs. Press a pastry disc into each of the wells of a buttered muffin tray. Divide the custard between the pastry cases.
Bake the tarts for 18-20 minutes on the preheated baking sheet, or until the custard has puffed up and is pale golden-brown, and the pastry is crisp and golden-brown. Allow to cool in the tin. Before serving dust with some cinnamon and icing sugar.

PER SERVING

278 kcalories, protein 4.3g, carbohydrate 37.3g, fat 13.5 g, saturated fat 6.2g, fibre 0.5g, salt 0.41 g

Recipe from olive magazine, June 2011.

Latest comments and suggestions

Kate's Food

13 May 2011

Kate's Food commented on this recipe

Having scoffed these in Brazil until I couldn't do up my jeans I've been looking everywhere for a recipe for years. Can't wait!

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mikey

14 May 2011

mikey commented on this recipe

just made these and followed the receipe a complete disaster

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Jemima

31 May 2011

Jemima rated and commented on this recipe

Delicious! But they came out a bit fluffier than the custard tarts I get from the Portuguese deli. Any ideas on how to get the edges of the pastry crispy?

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sylv

11 December 2011

sylv commented on this recipe

I think you should use layers of filo pastry instead brushed with clarified butter in between each sheet. Puff pastry is rather heavy and on the floury side: pasteis are not stodgy at all but light and crispy. hope this helps. I will try and let u know

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foodie

14 February 2012

foodie rated and commented on this recipe

Followed recipe to the letter, brilliant. Divided 'swiss roll' in half, half again, then each quarter into 3. Sounds obvious, but '1-2' cm is too vague. You need 12 to exactly fill up all the cases with the custard mix.

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madsmess

07 April 2012

madsmess commented on this recipe

followed the recipe but just added a little more vanilla and a squeeze of lemon juice to the custard. I also brushed the edges of the pastry with a little melted butter before putting the custard in to help the edges brown an crisp up... The outcome was AMAZING very pleased can't wait to give one to my mother in law who lived in Portugal for years.... that'll be the true test..... great recipe.

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madsmess

07 April 2012

madsmess rated this recipe

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cook me

09 June 2012

cook me rated and commented on this recipe

Made these this morning - really nice. Wasn't sure whether to just bring the lemon/sugar/cinnamon mixture to a boil then take it off, or whether to leave it boiling while I made the milk mixture. I let it boil for less than a minute and then took it off the heat. Work fine.

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may

22 July 2012

may commented on this recipe

Made these tarts this morning and very disappointed with the filling. Very sweet and nothing like the lovely custard filling in pasteis de nata as I know.

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MissMatilda91

29 November 2012

MissMatilda91 commented on this recipe

WHERE IS THE SUGAR IN THIS RECIPE...good job my boyfriends a chef or this would have been a total waste of time, disastrous recipe!

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sllyst

02 December 2012

sllyst rated and commented on this recipe

I really couldn't imagine how the mix of lemon, cinamon and vanilla was going to work but it really did! These were absolutely gorgeous and came out perfectly. The pastry was light and crispy, the filling was perfectly balanced, just heaven!

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Katev1987

12 February 2013

Katev1987 rated and commented on this recipe

I really enjoyed making these, I have also had them tested out by my Portuguese boyfriend and his family who say they are good - phew! I found that they were sweet and easy to make. They made lovely little gifts wrapped up in boxes. I was concerned that the day after they wouldn't taste as nice, but they were fine. Just making batch number 3 and starting to tweak it e.g. with coconut.

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psk95

17 February 2013

psk95 rated and commented on this recipe

These are great custard tarts, very easy to make. I have also tried filo pastry and you do get a much crispier base but with puff pastry just make sure you coat between sheets with melt butter or use ready made and roll out thinly.

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BiddyG

13 March 2013

BiddyG commented on this recipe

Sorry am I being very dense but 2 lemon slices? Does it mean two lemons sliced or what?

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Smartchrissy

04 May 2013

Smartchrissy rated and commented on this recipe

The pastry part was not as crisp as it could have been and rather 'floury' and a little chewy too. I've read with interest PSK95's comment about brushing pastry layers with melted butter in order to crisp them up - shall try this next time. I also think that the custard might turn out better with full cream milk - after all 'nata' means cream. Custard texture was fine.

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Kat87

19 May 2013

Kat87 rated and commented on this recipe

I made these today, and they were fantastic. To the person who didn't know where the sugar was - it's the first ingredient, and what you do with it is in the first sentence. I have never tried a real one of these, but as far as I'm concerned, these are great. The pastry part was a bit tedious, but entirely worth it. I brushed the layers with butter (as suggested) and it worked a treat. If they don't work, keep persevering.

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