Best Portuguese Cream Tarts Recipes

PORTUGUESE CUSTARD TART RECIPE

Steps:

• To make the dough, place the flour, salt, and water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook. Mix for about 30 seconds until soft and pillowy dough forms that cleans the side of the bowl.
• Place the dough on a generously floured work surface. Pat the dough into a 6-inch square using a pastry scraper. Sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
• Roll the dough into an 18-inch square. Use the scraper to lift the dough and add flour underneath to avoid the dough sticking.
• Brush excess flour off the top of the dough, trim any uneven edges, and using a small offset spatula dot and then spread the left two-thirds of the dough with a little less than one-third of the butter to within 1 inch of the edge.
• Neatly fold over the unbuttered right third of the dough (using the pastry scraper to loosen it if it sticks), brush off any excess flour, then fold over the left third. Starting from the top, pat down the packet with your hand to release air bubbles, then pinch the edges closed. Brush off any excess flour.
• Turn the dough packet 90 degrees to the left so the fold is facing you. Lift the packet and flour the work surface. Once again roll out to an 18-inch square, then dot and spread the left two-thirds of the dough with one-third of the butter, and fold the dough as in steps 4 and 5.
• For the last rolling, turn the packet 90 degrees to the left and roll out the dough to an 18-by-21-inch rectangle, with the shorter side facing you. Spread the remaining butter over the entire surface.
• Using the spatula as an aid, lift the edge closest to you and roll the dough away from you into a tight log, brushing the excess flour from the underside as you go. Trim the ends and cut the log in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or preferably overnight.
• Now make the custard. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and 1/4 cup of the milk until smooth. Set aside.
• Bring the sugar, cinnamon, and water to a boil in a small saucepan and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 220°F (100°C). Do not stir.
• Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, scald the remaining 1 cup milk. Whisk the hot milk into the flour mixture.
• Remove the cinnamon stick then pour the sugar syrup in a thin stream into the hot milk-and-flour mixture, whisking briskly. Add the vanilla and stir for a minute until very warm but not hot. Whisk in the yolks, strain the mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside.
• Assemble and bake the pastries
• Heat the oven to 550°F (290°C) with two baking stones inside for at least one hour. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and roll it gently back and forth on lightly floured work surface until it's about an inch in diameter and 15 inches long. Cut it into scant 1.25-inch pieces. Place the dough pieces cut-side down into each of the the 12 cups of the 12-cup aluminum muffin pan (each cup measuring about 2.5" by 1.5"). Let the dough pieces often several minutes until they become soft and pliable.
• Dip your thumbs into the water, then press straight down into the middle of the dough piece. Flatten it against the bottom of the cup to a thickness of about 1/8 inch, then smooth the dough up the sides and create a raised lip about 1/8 inch above the pan. The pastry sides should be thinner than the bottom.
• Fill each cup 3/4 full with the slightly warm custard. Bake the tarts until the edges of the dough are frilled and brown, about 10-12 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and allow the tarts to cool a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack and cool until just warm. Repeat the steps with the remaining dough and custard mix.
• Serve and enjoy. Optionally, sprinkle the tarts generously with powdered sugar, then cinnamon before serving.

PORTUGESE CUSTARD CREAM TARTS (PASTEIS DE NATA)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly greese 12 muffin cup pan or cupcake pan. Line the bottom and sides with the puff pastry.
• In a saucepan, combine cold milk, sugar, cornstarch, pinch of salt, and vanilla. Cook, stirrring constantly, until mixture thickens. Place egg yolks in a medium bowl beat a little with a fork. Then wisk 1/2 cup of hot milk mixture into the egg yolks. Tempering them. Gradually add the egg yolk mixture back into the remaining milk mixture; wisking constantly. Cook stirring constantly for 5 minutes, or until thickend. Remove vanilla bean.
• Fill pastry-lined muffin cups with the mixture about a tablespoon and a half per cup. Bake in preheated oven for 30/35 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and the filling is lightly browned on top. Enjoy

PORTUGUESE CUSTARD TARTS

Steps:

• Pour the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch into a saucepan and whisk them together. Gradually beat in the cream and milk until smooth. Place the pan over medium heat, and stirring constantly, cook until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Switch off the heat, and stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer the custard to a bowl, cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and leave out to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 12-count muffin pan.
• Halve the puff pastry sheet horizontally. Set one half on top of the other, and set it aside for 5 minutes. Tightly roll up the puff pastry from short end to short end. Cut the puff pastry log into 12 (1/2-inch) rounds. Lay each piece on a lightly floured surface, and using a rolling pin, flatten out each round until they are 4-inches in diameter. Press each round into each muffin pan. Spoon the cooled custard into the pastry cases, and bake until the pastry and custards are golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Leave the tarts in the pan for 5 minutes, and then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

PORTUGUESE CUSTARD TARTS

Steps:

• Grease muffin pans with margarine.
• Place the puff pastry over a table dusted with flour. Dust the pastry with a little more flour and roll out the pastry into a rectangle shape with a rolling pin. Roll the pastry from one end to the other and cut in round slices with 4 centimeters / (1 1/2 inches). Put the slices within the muffin pans and press the center of the pastry with fingers until fill completely the muffin pans, set aside.
• In a bowl, dissolve the corn starch in 50 ml / (3 1/3 tablespoons) milk.
• In a saucepan, pour the remaining milk, lemon peel, cinnamon stick, the dissolved corn starch and sugar. Stir and bring to low heat, stirring occasionally. When starts boiling, remove the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick (reserve both). Turn off the heat and add the egg yolks one by one, stirring constantly. Add the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick and place back over low heat until obtain a creamy mixture, about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180ºC / (350ºF).
• Turn off the heat, remove the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick and pour the cream in the muffin pans. Bake for about 30 minutes.
• Remove from oven, unmold and let cool. Sprinkle with cinnamon and powdered sugar and serve.

PASTéIS DE NATA (PORTUGUESE CUSTARD TARTS)

Steps:

• Using a pastry brush, grease eight individual pastry tins generously with the melted butter, then chill in the fridge. Put the butter between two sheets of baking parchment, then bash and roll into a large rectangle roughly the thickness of a £1 coin. In a large bowl, mix the flour with 150ml water and a pinch of salt using a wooden spoon. Tip the dough onto a clean surface and knead for 5 mins until smooth.
• Shape the dough into a rough rectangle, cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 20 mins. If your butter is getting too soft, put it in the fridge to chill too. Roll the dough out into a large, thin rectangle at least twice the size of the butter. Put the butter in the middle of the dough, fold all the edges up over it to encase it, then fold the dough over itself in half.
• Roll out the dough to roughly half its original size, then fold in half, then half again to make a rectangle a quarter the size of the original. Repeat this process once more, flouring your work surface if you need to. Don't worry about being too precise here, or if the butter starts breaking through some of the layers. Cover and put the pastry in the fridge to rest for 20 mins.
• On a floured surface roll the chilled dough into a thin A3-sized rectangle, then roll it up lengthways into a tight sausage shape. Divide the pastry into three, the middle section will make your perfect looking tarts, then wrap and freeze the rest for another time. (It would also make delicious palmier biscuits if you roll it out and sprinkle with sugar.)
• Slice the pastry into 8 discs. Work the discs into the tins with your fingers, pressing and stretching them to fill the tins. If the layers start to come apart, press them back together. Chill while you make the custard.
• In a pan, warm 150ml milk with the cinnamon stick, lemon peel and half the butter until just simmering and the butter has melted. In a large bowl, sieve the cornflour and flour into the remaining milk and whisk to form a thin paste. Pour the warm milk mixture over the flour paste and leave to infuse for a few mins. Sieve the custard back into the pan, heat gently and keep stirring for 3-4 mins until it reaches the consistency of double cream. Take off the heat and blend in the remaining butter.
• Put the syrup ingredients in a frying pan and stir over a medium heat for 5 mins until you have a light, fragrant caramel. Take the pan off the heat and carefully pour in 100ml water. Return the pan to a low heat until the sugar has melted again into a syrup. Strain into a bowl.
• Slowly add half the syrup to the custard and whisk until completely blended. You can store the custard in the fridge from this point, but don't add the eggs until just before you are ready to cook the tarts. Heat your oven to 260C/240C fan/gas 8 or as high as your oven will go. Put a baking tray on the top shelf of the oven to heat up. Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl, then incorporate into the custard. Pour the mixture into the pastry bases.
• Put the filled tin on the hot baking tray. Put the tray in the middle of the oven and bake for 5- 8 mins, or until the custard starts to puff up. Once the custard has puffed up, turn the oven onto its grill setting and transfer the tarts to the top shelf. Grill for 1-2 mins or until caramelised - the darker the better. Remove from the oven and brush with a little of the remaining syrup. Let the tarts cool slightly in the moulds before turning out onto a cooling rack.

PORTUGUESE EGG CUSTARD TARTS

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll puff pastry into an 18-inch/46-centimeter square. Starting with the edge closest to you, tightly roll the dough into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until very firm, at least 30 minutes and preferably overnight.
• Heat the oven to 500 degrees and arrange the oven racks in the top third and lower third of the oven. Place 2 cookie sheets on the oven racks while the oven heats.
• In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cinnamon stick and 2/3 cup/165 milliliters water. Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute. Turn off heat and let stand until you're ready to use it.
• Roll the firm log of pastry on a lightly floured surface until 1 inch/2 1/2 centimeters in diameter. Trim the ends, then cut the log into 1/2-inch/12-millimeter slices. (You should have 48.)
• Using a rolling pin, roll one of the pastry rounds into a 2 1/2-inch/63-millimeter circle. Place pastry into the cavity of a mini-muffin tin, and press to evenly flatten the dough against the bottom and sides of the cavity, extending about 1/16 inch/3 millimeters above the rim of the pan. The dough should be about 1/16 inch/3 millimeters thick, with the bottom a bit thicker than the sides. Repeat with the remaining dough, chilling the cut rounds if dough becomes difficult to roll. Refrigerate crusts until firm, at least 10 minutes.
• While the dough chills, finish the filling: In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon/255 milliliters milk over medium-low heat until bubbles begin to form around the edges.
• In a large bowl, whisk flour with the remaining 5 tablespoons/75 milliliters milk. Continue whisking while adding the hot milk in a slow, steady stream. Discard the cinnamon stick from the sugar syrup and whisk the syrup into the milk mixture in a steady stream. Return to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until thickened, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Place the yolks in a large bowl. Whisking constantly, add hot milk mixture to eggs in a slow stream until fully incorporated. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Pour warm filling into pastry shells until they're three-quarters full.
• Transfer tarts to the cookie sheets in oven and bake until the shells are golden brown and crisp, and the custards are golden brown and darkened in spots, 15 to 19 minutes.
• Let cool in the pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then pop out tarts to continue cooling on the racks for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve warm.