The summer sun may have faded beyond our reach here in the UK but we can still have the tastes of sunnier climes whenever we wish. These little custard tarts, or pastéis de nata as they’re known natively often have closely guarded recipes passed through generations. Luckily, we managed to get our hands on one just for you, so you don’t have to go snooping around any Portuguese pantries anytime soon!
Portuguese Custard Tarts Method:
Prepare muffin tins by greasing 22 holes with butter (this usually takes two 12-hole tins). Leave in the fridge to chill.
Heat the milk, pared lemon zest (by which we mean slice the rind off the lemon rather than grate it!) and cinnamon in the pan until lightly simmering. Turn off the heat to let it cool slightly and remove the zest and cinnamon. Add a third of the milk to the flour, whisking to form a thin paste.
Heat the remaining milk and add the paste once boiling. Ensure to continually stir with a whisk until the mixture is thick. This should take around 2-3 minutes.
In a separate pan, add the sugar to 200ml of water, heating gently. Once the sugar is melted, boil the liquid for around 4-5 minutes until it becomes syrupy. Gradually add this to the milky mixture to create one with the thickness of double cream.
Into a large bowl containing the egg yolks, strain the milk mixture and whisk everything together continuously until combined. Cover with cling film touching the surface.
Heat the oven to 250°C (230°C for a fan oven). Remove the plastic from the pre-made pastry and roll back into a rod shape. Cut the rod of pastry into 11 discs, then place one disc in each greased hole in the muffin tins. With the swirl facing up, press the pastry up the sides of each hole from the centre out to create the shell. Ensure the pastry pokes over the top slightly.
Pour the custard into the shells leaving 1cm at the top. Bake on the top shelf for 15 minutes. The pastry should be golden and crisp.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before removing to cool further on a wire rack.
Dig in as soon as you can!
