Pasteis De Nata Portuguese Custard Tarts

Mireille · 02/01/2018 at 8:12 pm

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You can find these tarts everywhere in Portugal and you can now make them at home. It takes a little practice Are you ready to learn how to make pasteis de Nata? Let’s get started!

Pasteis De Nata Ingredients

To make these Portuguese custard tarts you need a number of ingredients. Make sure you get the following pasteis de Nata ingredients on your shopping list:

Milk
Eggs
Granulated sugar
Plain flour
Vanilla extract or vanilla pod
Puff pastry
Cinnamon

You can find all the ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How To Make Pasteis De Nata

Just like the oven-baked apple beignets I used store-bought puff pastry for this recipe and made the filling myself.

It is quite easy to make as you have to make a custard. You start with two egg yolks and the sugar. Then add the flour and whisk that into a smooth cream while you slowly heat the milk.

This pasteis de Nata recipe requires vanilla and if you have fresh vanilla scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and put that in the milk.

If you do not have fresh vanilla, you can use vanilla extract.

Heat the milk slowly and do not boil. Take about two tablespoons of milk and add this to the egg cream and stir it through.

Finally, add the egg cream to the milk.

Warm the milk further to a slow boil so the flour can set and let it cook for 2 minutes on low heat (you should see an occasional bubble).

Now take a large plate and make it wet with a little water (do not dry the plate). Put the custard on the plate and put foil on it, to let it cool.

This will prevent the custard from drying out.

Make The Pasteis

Take the puff pastry roll and sprinkle some cinnamon on the puff pastry. Roll it up again and cut it into 12 equal pieces.

Let the puff pastry cool in the fridge for 10 minutes before you roll each circle into a bigger circle. Push them into a muffin tin.

Now it is time to divide the custard across the 12 pasteis. Preheat the oven to 480℉ and bake the custard tarts for about 25 minutes.

The custard should have brown blisters, then they are done.

Let them cool slightly and sprinkle with some icing sugar. Eat immediately. Delicious!

The Most Well Known Portuguese Custard Tart

Have you ever been to Lisbon in Portugal? If you ever get the chance go and visit this lovely city by the sea.

It has a great old town with lots of great restaurants, shops and terraces to sit outside and enjoy the sun.

When you are there do not pass up on the opportunity to eat a pasteis de Nata.

When you roam the streets of Lisbon you can find them everywhere. In every bakery shop or in a cafe you can get these pastries.

You can buy them in a pack of ten and literally thousands and thousands of these pastries are made every day.

These Portuguese custard tarts are also known as pastel de Belem or pasteis de Belem. These are special as they can be found in the Belem suburb.

Even though a pasteis de nata and a pasteis de Belem seem exactly the same you can only buy pasteis de Belem in the Fábrica Pastéis de Belém.

They are made here for more than 100 years and are the only ones that are patented.

All other custard tarts are just pasteis de Nata.

Until you actually go and visit Lisbon, you can find out here how to make pasteis de Nata yourself and have a touch of Lisbon at home.

See How To Make Pasteis De Nata

Want to see how easy it is to make Pasteis De Nata? Then watch the instructional video in the recipe card below.

Can You Make Pasteis De Nata Ahead?

Yes, these custard tarts are perfect to make ahead and serve later. They taste amazing fresh but as this sweet treat can be time-consuming to make it works to make ahead.

How To Store Pasteis De Nata

You have several ways to store your pasteis:

Refrigerator – these custard tarts are good to refrigerate. Store them in an airtight food container for up to 2 days
Freezer – want to store them longer you can store them in the freezer. Store the tarts in a freezer-friendly food container for up to 2 months

How To Reheat Custard Tarts

When you store your custard tarts, they can go soft. You have several ways to crisp them up again and reheat them:

Oven – you can crisp up the pasteis de Nata in the oven. Preheat your oven to 425℉ and put the pasteis on a baking tray. Put them in the oven and heat for 5 minutes or until warm and crisp
Air Fryer – you can also use your Air Fryer to reheat the pasteis. Preheat the Air Fryer to 400℉ for 3 minutes and put the pasteis in the basket. Heat for 3-4 minutes and serve

More Sweet Recipes

If you like to make sweet treats than take a look at these recipes as well:

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Pastei de nata

Mireille

Serves: 23 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Want to know how to make pasteis de Nata also known as pasteis de Belem which are custard puff pastries from Portugal. Video included.

Ingredients

250ml milk
2 egg yolks
75 g of granulate sugar
1 tbsp of plain flour
1 tsp of vanilla extract or 1 vanilla pod
1 roll of puff pastry
2 tbsp of cinnamon

Instructions

Whisk two egg yolks and 75 gram of sugar. Add 1 tbsp of flour and whisk into a smooth cream. Set aside
Heat 250 ml of milk on low heat and add 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Do not boil
When the milk is warm add 2 tbsp of milk to the egg mixture and whisk
Now add the egg milk mixture to the pan with milk and let it simmer on low heat for about 2 minutes to let the flour in the cream cook (you should see an occasional bubble)
Take a plate and rinse with a little bit of water (do not dry the plate). Put the custard on the plate and wrap with foil to let it cool (this will also prevent skin on the custard)
Take sheet of puff pastry and sprinkle some cinnamon on the puff pastry. Roll it up and cut into 12 pieces. Let it cool in the fridge for 10 minutes and roll each circle into a bigger circle
Push them into a muffin tin. Divide the custard over the 12 pastry
Preheat the oven at 480℉/225℃ and bake in about 25 minutes. The custard should have brown blisters

Pasteis De Nata Portuguese Custard Tarts

Pasteis De Nata Ingredients