Pastéis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)

Before you start

Pastéis de nata get their character from extremes. The pastry is a laminated dough rolled into a tight log, sliced into coins and pressed into tins so the layers fan out into a crisp, flaky spiral. The custard is unusual too: a cooked milk and flour base sweetened with a hot sugar syrup, then enriched with egg yolks. Baked in the hottest oven you have, the tops scorch in dark patches while the custard stays just set underneath.

Your oven temperature decides how close you get to a bakery result. Professional ovens run near 300°C; most home ovens top out at 260 to 290°C (500 to 550°F), which still works if you preheat fully and bake near the top. Press the pastry thin at the base and thicker toward the rim, since the bottom needs to crisp before the custard overcooks.

Ingredients

• Pastry150 g (1¼ cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour — plus more for rolling
• ⅛ tsp fine salt
• 90 ml (6 tbsp) cold water
• 115 g (½ cup) unsalted butter — soft and spreadable, divided into thirds
• Custard150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
• 80 ml (⅓ cup) water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 wide strip lemon peel, no white pith
• 300 ml (1¼ cups) whole milk — divided
• 25 g (3 tbsp) all-purpose flour
• 6 large egg yolks
• To serveto taste ground cinnamon and powdered sugar

Method

1. Mix the flour, salt and water into a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead it on a floured counter for 2 minutes until smooth, cover it and rest for 15 minutes.
2. Roll the dough into a 25 cm (10 in) square. Spread one third of the soft butter over two thirds of the surface, leaving a narrow border, then fold it in three like a letter, folding the bare third in first. Turn it 90 degrees and roll it into a long rectangle. Repeat the spreading and folding twice more with the remaining butter, chilling the dough for 10 minutes between turns if the butter starts to ooze.
3. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 30 × 40 cm (12 × 16 in) and 2 mm thick. Brush off excess flour and roll it up very tightly from a short edge into a 30 cm log. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until firm.
4. Lightly butter the muffin tin. Trim the ends of the log and cut it into 12 slices about 2.5 cm (1 in) thick. Stand each slice cut side up in a cup. With wet thumbs, press the center down and work the dough up the sides until it rises slightly above the rim, thin at the base and a little thicker at the top. Chill the tin while you make the custard.
5. Bring the sugar, 80 ml water, cinnamon stick and lemon peel to a boil and cook until the syrup reaches 104°C (220°F), about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk 60 ml of the milk with the flour until smooth. Heat the remaining milk until steaming, whisk in the slurry and cook, whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes until it thickens like heavy cream.
6. Remove the cinnamon and peel and pour the hot syrup into the milk base in a thin stream, whisking. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, until warm rather than hot, then whisk in the yolks. Strain into a jug.
7. Heat the oven to its highest setting, 260 to 290°C (500 to 550°F), with a rack in the upper third, for at least 30 minutes. Fill each pastry cup about three quarters full; you may have a little custard left over.
8. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden and the custard is puffed with dark brown blisters. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, ease the tarts out with a small knife and serve warm, dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar if you like.

Tips for success

• Butter that is too firm tears the thin dough, and butter that is melted soaks in. Aim for the texture of soft mayonnaise.
• Roll the log as tightly as you can. Gaps between layers open up in the oven and let custard leak under the pastry.
• If the tops will not blister before the pastry is done, switch on the broiler for the last 1 to 2 minutes and watch closely.

Substitutions

Homemade laminated pastry

Use 1 sheet (about 250 g) all-butter puff pastry: roll it up tightly from a short side into a log, chill it and slice as above. The layers are less spiral-shaped but still flaky.

Whole milk

Replace 60 ml of the milk with heavy cream for a richer, softer custard. Lower-fat milk sets more firmly and tastes thinner.

Cinnamon stick and lemon peel

A strip of orange peel or a split vanilla bean in the syrup gives a different but traditional-tasting perfume.

Variations

Mini tarts

Use a 24-cup mini muffin tin and 1.2 cm slices of the log. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.

Vanilla custard

Leave out the cinnamon and lemon and add the scraped seeds of ½ vanilla bean to the milk.

Troubleshooting

The custard boiled over or puffed and collapsed

The cups were overfilled or the custard was very warm going in. Fill to three quarters and let the custard cool until just warm before baking.

Pale tops with no blistering

The oven was not hot enough or not fully preheated. Use the highest setting, preheat for 30 minutes and bake on an upper rack.

Soggy or doughy pastry bottoms

The base was pressed too thick. Thin the dough at the bottom of each cup, and bake on a preheated heavy sheet under the tin.

The custard turned grainy

The yolks went into a base that was too hot and partly cooked. Wait until the mixture is about 50°C (120°F) before whisking them in.

Storage

These are best within a few hours of baking, while the pastry crackles. Refrigerate leftovers, covered, within 2 hours and eat them within 2 days. Rewarm on a baking sheet at 180°C (350°F) for 5 to 6 minutes to crisp the pastry. The unbaked pastry log freezes for up to 1 month.

Safety notes

The custard is baked until set at very high heat; do not taste it raw. Refrigerate leftovers promptly because they are an egg-based dessert. Contains wheat, egg and milk.