Pastel de Nata

⏳ Time

1 hour

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

According to legend, monks in a monastery used egg whites to starch their robes, while they made pastries with custard from the yolks — pastel de nata. The sale of this dessert helped the monastery survive after the Portuguese revolution of 1820, and now, every year in Lisbon, a festival is held to choose the best version. This crispy puff pastry tart filled with very sweet cream is a must-have part of breakfast in any city in Portugal. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

Puff Pastry - 15 oz
Wheat Flour - 0 oz
Milk - 10 fl oz
Sugar - 5 oz
Water - 10 fl oz
Whole egg - 5 oz
Ground Cinnamon - a pinch
Lemon - 1 piece
Vanilla extract - ½ spoons
Salt - a pinch

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Prepare the necessary ingredients.

Step 2

Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface.

Step 3

Then roll it into a log and slice it into rounds about one centimeter thick.

Step 4

Place a round of dough in each mold and use your fingers to spread the dough evenly across the surface of the mold. Repeat this process for the remaining molds. Cover the molds with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Step 5

In a saucepan, add sugar, lemon zest, water, cinnamon, and vanilla extract, and place it over heat. Bring it to a temperature of 220°F, which will take about 3 to 4 minutes.

Step 6

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour with half of the milk to avoid any lumps. Add a pinch of salt, the remaining milk, and mix well.

Step 7

Place the milk-flour mixture over heat and, stirring, bring to a boil. Pour in the syrup, removing the zest, and mix until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.