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Author:
Franco Salzillo
If there’s a prettier and more custardy dessert than the famous Portuguese egg tarts, we don’t know what it is. How to make Portuguese pastel de nata? Here is what you need to know.
Portugal is a pastry powerhouse. Even if not as famous as France or Italy, the sweets here are on another level. The most famous dessert in the country is the custard tarts, or pastels de nata, which are some of the creamiest and sweetest desserts on earth. You can’t miss them. Making egg tarts is also easy, so there’s no excuse not to try making your own.
I promise, traditional egg tarts are not complicated to make, and you get better at making them with every batch. You’ll need a sweet sugar syrup made with sugar, water, cinnamon and lemon zest. You’ll also need to make the custard — basically, all-purpose flour, egg yolks, milk, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt! Make a batch of these and feel like you are in Portugal with every bite!
For the dough:
For the syrup:
For the custard:
To make the dough, combine the flour and salt water in a bowl. Flour a surface and knead for 5 minutes. Roll thinly into a sheet and roll into a log. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To make the syrup, add the sugar and water into a saucepan, and add the cinnamon and lemon zest. Bring to a boil while stirring and remove from the heat.
For the custard, combine the flour, salt and milk in a second saucepan and heat over a low flame until steamy. Stir often.
Remove from heat after 8-10 minutes and incorporate the egg yolks and vanilla. Stir to combine.
Incorporate the syrup into the custard and set it aside.
Preheat the oven to 550 degrees F and grease a cupcake/muffin tin with butter or cooking oil in spray.
Cut the dough log into 10-8 even pieces. Roll each piece into a disk and use your fingers to create the custard crusts in the cupcake tins.
Fill each crust with custard and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and caramelized.
Allow cooling before unmolding.
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