Portugal / Dessert
Pastel de nata
Flaky pastry cases of custard baked in extreme heat until the surface blisters black.
Ingredients
- Puff pastry400 g
- Milk250 ml
- Double cream250 ml
- Sugar200 g
- Water100 ml
- Plain flour40 g
- Egg yolks6
- Cinnamon stick1
- Lemon peel1
Quantities are auto-calculated from the original recipe as a guide. Items without numbers (e.g. “to taste”) are not changed.
Method 5 steps
Boil the sugar and water to 100 °C and take it off. Separately bring the milk, cream, cinnamon and lemon peel to just below boiling.
Whisk the flour into a little cold milk until smooth and stir it into the hot mixture. Cook, stirring, to the thickness of soured cream.
Pour the hot syrup into the milk base in a thin stream, take it off the heat and stir in the yolks. Strain it and cool completely.
Roll the pastry into a tight log, cut two-centimetre discs and press each into a tin with your thumbs, taking the walls above the rim.
Heat the oven as high as it goes, at least 250 °C. Fill the cases three-quarters full and bake twelve to fifteen minutes, until the tops blister black.
