Pastel de Nata
Portugal's legendary custard tart — caramelized, flaky, and utterly addictive.
Date Night
Family Friendly
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry (store-bought is fine)
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 200ml heavy cream
- 100ml milk
- 120g sugar
- 30g flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 strip lemon peel
- Cinnamon and powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- 1 Heat milk with cinnamon stick and lemon peel until just simmering. Remove from heat, cover, let infuse 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon and lemon peel.
- 2 In a saucepan, whisk sugar and flour together. Gradually add the infused milk, whisking constantly. Cook over medium heat until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- 3 Whisk egg yolks and whole egg together. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling.
- 4 Stir in cream and vanilla. Strain through a fine sieve for smoothness.
- 5 Preheat oven to 250°C (480°F) — as hot as possible.
- 6 Roll puff pastry tightly into a log. Cut into 12 rounds, about 1.5cm thick.
- 7 Press each round into a muffin tin, pushing the pastry up the sides with your thumbs, creating a thin shell that extends just above the rim.
- 8 Fill each shell three-quarters full with custard.
- 9 Bake for 12-15 minutes until the pastry is golden and the custard has charred spots on top.
- 10 Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove. Dust with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Best eaten warm.
About This Recipe
Pastel de Nata is Portugal's most famous pastry and one of the world's greatest desserts. A shatteringly crisp puff pastry shell holds a rich egg custard that's baked at extreme heat until the top blisters and caramelizes into dark spots.
The original recipe from Belém monastery remains a closely guarded secret, but this home version gets you remarkably close. The key is a very hot oven — 250°C or higher — which creates that signature contrast between the charred custard top and the cool, creamy center.