Pastéis de Nata with Puff Pastry (Portuguese Egg Tarts)
By Camila ChaparroPublished on October 13, 2020
Time
2¾ hours, plus 50 minutes chilling
Yield
Serves 12
Ingredients
1½ (9½ by 9-inch) sheets puff pastry, thawed1½ cups whole milk 1 cup (7 ounces/198 grams) granulated sugar ¾ cup heavy cream 2 (3-inch) strips lemon zest ¼ cup (1¼ ounces/35 grams) all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon table salt 8 large egg yolks 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract Confectioners' sugar Ground cinnamon
Before You Begin
To thaw frozen puff pastry, let it sit either in the refrigerator for 24 hours or at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Instructions
- Unfold puff pastry sheets on clean counter. Brush tops lightly with water. Roll full pastry sheet into tight log and pinch seam to seal. Roll short side of half pastry sheet into tight log and pinch seam to seal. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.
- Spray 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray. Using serrated knife, trim off uneven ends of each dough log and discard. Cut twelve 1-inch slices from dough logs and place 1 slice in each muffin tin cup, cut side up. Using moistened fingers, press dough into bottom and up sides of muffin cups so dough reaches top of cups (dough should be very thin). Prick shells all over with fork and refrigerate muffin tin until dough is firm, about 20 minutes.
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line tart shells with muffin tin liners and fill with pie weights. Place muffin tin on lower rack and bake until pastry is puffed but still pale, about 10 minutes. Cover muffin tin with aluminum foil and continue to bake until pastry is just blond at edges, about 5 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to wire rack, discard foil, and let tart shells cool slightly, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove liners and weights. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees.
- Combine milk, granulated sugar, cream, and lemon zest in medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until steaming, about 6 minutes. Off heat, let mixture steep for 15 minutes; discard zest. Whisk flour and salt together in bowl, then gradually whisk in milk mixture. Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla until smooth. Return egg mixture to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to thicken, 6 to 8 minutes. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer into clean bowl.
- Divide custard evenly among pastry shells. Bake on upper rack until shells are dark golden brown and crisp and custard is puffed and spotty brown, 8 to 11 minutes. Let tarts cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove tarts from muffin tin and let cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and cinnamon and serve warm or at room temperature.
Time
2¾ hours, plus 50 minutes chillingYield
Serves 12Ingredients
1½ (9½ by 9-inch) sheets puff pastry, thawed
1½ cups whole milk
1 cup (7 ounces/198 grams) granulated sugar
¾ cup heavy cream
2 (3-inch) strips lemon zest
¼ cup (1¼ ounces/35 grams) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon table salt
8 large egg yolks
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar
Ground cinnamon
Ingredients
1½ (9½ by 9-inch) sheets puff pastry, thawed
1½ cups whole milk
1 cup (7 ounces/198 grams) granulated sugar
¾ cup heavy cream
2 (3-inch) strips lemon zest
¼ cup (1¼ ounces/35 grams) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon table salt
8 large egg yolks
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar
Ground cinnamon
Ingredients
1½ (9½ by 9-inch) sheets puff pastry, thawed
1½ cups whole milk
1 cup (7 ounces/198 grams) granulated sugar
¾ cup heavy cream
2 (3-inch) strips lemon zest
¼ cup (1¼ ounces/35 grams) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon table salt
8 large egg yolks
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar
Ground cinnamon
Why This Recipe Works
The sweet, creamy vanilla- and lemon-scented custard filling and crisp pastry shell of petite Portuguese egg tarts leave many a tourist yearning for these iconic pastries upon returning home. For our take inspired by Portuguese–American versions of this dish, we found that store-bought puff pastry, parbaked in muffin tin cups, gave us the most shattering crust beneath the custard filling. But to get the classic swirled pastry layers, we needed to roll the puff pastry dough into logs, slice it into rounds and press it into the muffin tin cups. While many of our custard recipes use cornstarch as a thickener, we found that flour helped this custard withstand the high oven heat necessary to achieve the spotty brown surface found on traditional tarts. Serve these tarts warm or at room temperature with a sprinkle of cinnamon and powdered sugar as they do in Portugal.
Before You Begin
To thaw frozen puff pastry, let it sit either in the refrigerator for 24 hours or at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Instructions
- Unfold puff pastry sheets on clean counter. Brush tops lightly with water. Roll full pastry sheet into tight log and pinch seam to seal. Roll short side of half pastry sheet into tight log and pinch seam to seal. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.
- Spray 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray. Using serrated knife, trim off uneven ends of each dough log and discard. Cut twelve 1-inch slices from dough logs and place 1 slice in each muffin tin cup, cut side up. Using moistened fingers, press dough into bottom and up sides of muffin cups so dough reaches top of cups (dough should be very thin). Prick shells all over with fork and refrigerate muffin tin until dough is firm, about 20 minutes.
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line tart shells with muffin tin liners and fill with pie weights. Place muffin tin on lower rack and bake until pastry is puffed but still pale, about 10 minutes. Cover muffin tin with aluminum foil and continue to bake until pastry is just blond at edges, about 5 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to wire rack, discard foil, and let tart shells cool slightly, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove liners and weights. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees.
- Combine milk, granulated sugar, cream, and lemon zest in medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until steaming, about 6 minutes. Off heat, let mixture steep for 15 minutes; discard zest. Whisk flour and salt together in bowl, then gradually whisk in milk mixture. Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla until smooth. Return egg mixture to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to thicken, 6 to 8 minutes. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer into clean bowl.
- Divide custard evenly among pastry shells. Bake on upper rack until shells are dark golden brown and crisp and custard is puffed and spotty brown, 8 to 11 minutes. Let tarts cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove tarts from muffin tin and let cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and cinnamon and serve warm or at room temperature.
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