Yesss 😍 Portuguese Custard Tarts (Pastéis de Nata) — flaky, blistered pastry + silky custard. Bakery vibes at home.
🇵🇹 Pastéis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)
Ingredients (makes ~12)
Pastry
- 1 sheet puff pastry (all-butter if possible), thawed
Custard
- 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Peel of 1 lemon (no white pith)
- 2 tbsp flour
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
1️⃣ Prep the pastry
- Roll puff pastry into a tight log.
- Cut into 12 equal pieces.
- Place each cut-side up into a greased muffin tin.
- Use damp thumbs to press from center outward, forming thin cups.
- Chill while making custard.
2️⃣ Make the syrup
- In a saucepan, boil sugar + water + cinnamon + lemon peel.
- Cook until it reaches 220°F / 104°C (about 3 minutes boiling).
- Remove cinnamon & peel. Set aside.
3️⃣ Custard base
- Whisk flour into ¼ cup of milk until smooth.
- Heat remaining milk until steaming.
- Whisk hot milk into flour mixture.
- Slowly whisk in the hot sugar syrup.
- Let cool 5 minutes.
- Whisk in egg yolks + vanilla.
4️⃣ Bake HOT 🔥
- Heat oven to 260°C / 500°F (as hot as possible).
- Pour custard into pastry shells (¾ full).
- Bake 12–15 minutes until tops are deeply golden with dark spots.
5️⃣ Serve
- Cool slightly.
- Dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
- Best eaten warm, same day 🤌
✨ Pro Tips
- Super-hot oven = authentic blistered tops
- Don’t overfill or they’ll spill
- Muffin tin metal > silicone for crispness
Want:
- Air fryer version
- Simplified shortcut recipe
- Mini party-size
- Chocolate or coconut nata
Just say the word 😌🍮
