Portuguese Custard Tarts

These are the traditional Pastel de Nata tarts that are one the most well known Portuguese delicacies.  

It's amazing how many kinds of custard tarts there are...from French tarts filled with vanilla creme patisserie to English custard tarts speckled with nutmeg...to these little bites of rich loveliness. These are just wonderful. Unlike an English custard tart, these aren't made with shortcrust pastry but are made with a quick rough puff pastry, giving layers of buttery flakiness to hold a creamy smooth filling, subtlety flavoured with orange, lemon and vanilla. 

They look charming and homely, I adore the way the custard scorches in places. It looks fresh from a Portuguese bakery. 

These are the most un-photographic things I've ever baked. They look a mess, but they taste sublime. 

Oh and please don't feel obliged to make your own puff pastry. Shop bought all butter puff pastry will work sufficiently, but of course, homemade is far more delicious. 

Portugese Custard Tarts

Makes 12-13 tarts 

For the rough puff pastry:

4oz/110g plain flour 
4oz/110g very cold butter, cut into small cubes
50ml iced water

For the custard filling: 

25ml/1oz full fat milk
1 tbsp cornflour
125ml/4 1/2 fl oz double cream
150ml/5 fl oz creme fraiche 
2oz/50g granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 cinnamon stick
3 long shavings of orange peel 
2 long shavings of lemon peel 
1 vanilla pod 

1. Begin by making the flaky pastry. Sift the flour into a bowl and stir in the cubes of butter. Gently squidge the two together so the flour combines with the lumps of butter. The aim is not to mix it completely, so it turns to crumbs, but to have small pieces of butter coated with flour. Hence, it will look rather uneven and rough. 

2. Add a little of the water on top of the dough and stir it in. Add enough to bring the mixture together to a dough (you most likely won't need all of it), without over working the dough. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes. 

3. Lightly flour your work top and shape the dough into a rectangle. Roll the dough until it is three times its original length. Fold the top third back into the center, bringing the bottom fold up to meet it, giving your dough three layers. Give the dough a quarter turn and roll out again three times the length, fold again the same way, and chill for 20 minutes. 

4. Whilst the pastry chills, make the filling. Mix the milk with the cornflour until combined. Put the cream and creme fraiche into a saucepan with the sugar, cinnamon and lemon and orange peel. Stir whilst it heats to dissolve the sugar and take off the heat just before it boils. Discard the cinnamon stick and remove the orange and lemon peel. 

5. Beat the egg yolks and then add the milk and cornflour mixture. Pour the warmed cream into this, whisking and put back into the pan and place on a medium heat. Cook while stirring all the time until the mixture is just under boiling and has thickened well. It should be a bit thicker than double cream. Pour the custard into a jug and stir in the scrapings of the vanilla pod. Set aside. 

6. Preheat the oven to 220/200C fan/ Gas Mark 8. Grease a 12 hole muffin tray. On a lightly floured surface roll the pastry as thin as you can manage. Roll it up into a long sausage shape and cut into about 12 pieces. Take coils of these and press, putting pressure on the center, into the hollows of the cake tin. Prick the bottoms with a fork. Freeze for fifteen minutes then bake for five minutes, until lightly golden. Use a teaspoon to press down the pastry where it has puffed up. Pop back into the oven for a further few minutes before taking out and pressing down again. 

7. Fill the pastry cases with the custard and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the custard is puffed up and a little blackened in places. This is what makes the tarts look so beautiful, like they're fresh from a Portuguese bakery. Leave for at least 20 mins before eating. They taste wonderful cold from the fridge and keep well in a container in the fridge for about three or four days.