Portuguese Custard Tart Recipe

The traditional portuguese custard tart recipe, known as pastel de nata, has simple ingredients, which may vary slightly. The recipe that we share with you here is the most common and not the original, which can only be found in Belém.

Despite the simple ingredients, executing the portuguese custard tart recipe requires some patience. Still, as we all know, the end result will always make up for the time invested in the kitchen.

This recipe was intended for 20 pieces and should take approximately one hour. Do not waste time and surprise your family and friends with a homemade delicacy. They will love it.

Before you start, turn the oven on at 240º.

1. Using a kitchen roll, roll out the dough.
2. Then make a roll or cylinder with the dough, pressing it.
3. Once you have the shape you want, you can cut it into small pieces, with a width between one centimeter and a half and two centimeters, as you prefer a thicker or thinner dough.
4. Grease the molds with butter, place a piece of dough on each of them and gently spread the dough with your fingers, pushing the excess to the top, where the dough should be thicker (on the edge).
5. Reserve the shapes on an aluminum tray.
6. Add the milk, cinnamon sticks and lemon peels in a saucepan. Heat the pan until the milk boils and turn off.
7. In a separate container, mix the flour and sugar well.
8. Add the flour and sugar mixture to the milk with the cinnamon and lemon, even before they cool down. Mix well until the dough is homogeneous. Before letting the dough cool, remove the lemon and cinnamon. The mixture should stand for 10 to 15 minutes, while cooling.
9. Add the eggs and yolks to the mixture and mix well, stirring until the dough is homogeneous again.
   Put the mixture back on the stove and, as it thickens, do not stop stirring it.
10. Finally, and we are almost at the end of the pastel de nata recipe, distribute the contents by the forms and take them to the oven for 15 minutes. Let the custard tarts brown but take them off before they burst, so that they do not shrivel too much when cooling.

Suggestions:

If you have children at home, make sure that the pasteis de nata are not too hot, so that no one gets burned.

If you like cinnamon, sprinkle your pastel de nata with a little, and accompany it with a good coffee.