Portuguese Custard Tarts (Pasteis de Nata)
Light, flaky, crispy crust with a lightly sweetened creamy custard
Servings Prep Time
24tarts 30minutes
Servings Prep Time
24tarts 30minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Whisk yolks, eggs, cream, sugar & cornstarch in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until custard is thick enough to coat the back of spoon; remove from heat. Whisk in butter, vanilla & lemon zest. Strain the custard into a bowl. Place a piece of waxed paper directly over the custard; refrigerate until chilled or up to a day.
  2. Starting from the short end, roll each sheet of thawed puff pastry into a log; cut each into 12 equal pieces. Lightly grease 2-12 cup muffin pans. Place a piece of dough in each cup, Pressing dough evenly with your fingers to form a tart shell. Line each tart case with a small round of parchment paper. Fill with baking weights or rice. ‘Blind’ bake at 400 F. for ABOUT 10 minutes.
  3. Adjust oven temperature to 450 F. Fill tart shells about 2/3 full with cooled custard. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Adjust to BROIL temperature & brown for 3-5 minutes, watching closely so they don’t burn.
  4. Leave to cool in muffin pans for about 5 minutes then turn out carefully on to a wire rack. Serve at room temperature. If preferred, sprinkle with a little ground cinnamon.
Recipe Notes
  • Using frozen puff pastry makes it less time consuming but it still seems to take a few times of making them to get your timing just right with each part of the baking process. In the end it’s well worth it!