Few pastries have won over as many hearts (and tastebuds) as Portuguese custard tarts.
Visitors line up outside popular bakeries for them. Locals have strong opinions about which places make the best.
The treats in question are Portuguese custard tarts, or pastéis de nata. What came about as a result of some 18th-century monks doing laundry (yes, really) has grown into one of the most iconic pastries in the world.
While eating a pastel (or multiple pastéis) de nata in Lisbon is understandably a bucket-list dream for so many people, there’s no need to wait until you’re able to travel to Portugal to try them. With this Portuguese custard tarts recipe, you can bring Lisbon’s most beloved pastry to life at home.
The origin of a Portuguese favorite
Remember those laundry-washing monks we mentioned earlier? Let’s go back to them for a second.
Said monks lived at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, a seaside neighborhood west of central Lisbon. It was common for them to use egg whites to starch their clothes when washing them, but they soon realized that they had a lot of leftover yolks to deal with.
So the monks did what most people had been doing with egg yolks in Portugal for ages: used them in baked goods. Soon, the first pastéis de nata were born.
In 1820, the Liberal Revolution in Portugal cut off funding to religious institutions. In order to raise money to keep the monastery afloat, the monks began selling their pastries, which before long became a hit.
However, it wasn’t enough, and the monastery ended up closing anyway. When closing up shop, the monks sold their Portuguese custard tarts recipe to the local sugar refinery and called it a day.
Knowing that they had a winner on their hands, the owners of the sugar refinery opened their own bakery just down the street from the old monastery. The bakery is still there today, and if you’ve visited Lisbon, you may have even been there: the original Pastéis de Belém.
Where to eat Portuguese custard tarts in Lisbon
The original Portuguese custard tarts recipe at Pastéis de Belém has become so iconic that many people simply refer to the treats as pastéis de Belém. But it’s not the only place in Lisbon with tarts worth trying.
On our , we cap things off with a pastel de nata at Manteigaria in the Chiado neighborhood. Here, they’re always served warm, and it’s fascinating to be able to watch the bakers hard at work.
Another standout spot is Confeitaria Nacional, Lisbon’s oldest and most storied traditional pastry shop. Not only are the custard tarts themselves unbelievably good, but the place itself is visually stunning with a gorgeously preserved 19th-century interior.
READ MORE: The 4 Best Places to Try Custard Tarts in Lisbon
Ready to try these beauties for yourself (and too impatient to wait until your next trip to Portugal)? Let’s make some pastéis de nata!
Portuguese custard tarts recipe
Makes 12 custard tarts
Ingredients
280 grams (1 1/3 cup) white sugar
80 milliliters (1/3 cup) water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lemon peel, cut into strips
1 cinnamon stick
355 milliliters (1 1/2 cups) whole milk
43 grams (1/3 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 large egg yolks
One 250 gram (8.5 oz) sheet pre-rolled puff pastry
Ground cinnamon and powdered sugar, for dusting on top (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 290 degrees Celsius (550 degrees Fahrenheit). Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
Add the sugar, water, vanilla extract, lemon peel, and cinnamon stick to a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook without stirring until a thermometer reads 100 degrees Celsius (220 degrees Fahrenheit).
In a separate pan, thoroughly whisk together the milk, flour and salt. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, whisking constantly. When the mixture is well combined and the milk has thickened, remove from the heat and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Once the milk mixture has cooled, whisk in the egg yolks. Remove the cinnamon stick from the sugar syrup and pour that into the milk mixture as well. Mix until well combined, then strain into a measuring jug.
Cut the pastry sheet in half across the longer side. Stack the two pieces of dough on top of each other and roll tightly into a log from the short end. Cut the log into 12 evenly sized pieces.
Place one piece of pastry dough into each of the 12 cups of the muffin tin. Dip your thumb into cold water, then press down into the center of the dough and press outwards to form a small well. Repeat for all 12 cups. The top edge of the dough should extend just barely past the top of the muffin tin.
Fill each cup 3/4 of the way to the top with the custard filling.
Bake until the custard starts to caramelize and blister and the pastry crust turns golden brown, about 10–12 minutes.
Serve warm with powdered sugar and ground cinnamon sprinkled on top if desired.
Egg tarts are usually made with puff pastry, while Portuguese egg tarts are made with shortcrust pastry. Also, Portuguese egg tarts usually have a light cinnamon flavor and a slightly caramelized top, which gives them a unique flavor compared to traditional egg tarts.
History of the Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)
Initially produced in Belem, Lisbon, the origin of the pastel de nata is sacred and spiritual, known as the pastel de Belem. This delicacy was created before the 18th century by Catholic monks in the Jeronimos Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site today.
Because the tarts are made from eggs, cream and milk, it's important to store any leftovers in the fridge, where they can be kept for up to three days. That said, these tarts are at their peak when they're served fresh, still warm from the oven.
These tarts are best enjoyed warm, rather than hot, and eaten on the day they're made, though they do keep for a day or so (and will benefit from a quick crisp-up in the oven before serving).
If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill. You can keep leftovers of Portuguese Custard Tarts in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.
It won't take you long after arriving in Lisbon to notice Portugal's affinity for sugar. At local cafés, glass display cases show off everything from cookies and cakes to colorful tarts. The most iconic among them is the pastel de nata: a flaky pastry shell filled with sweet egg custard.
As Carreira explains, the wine business used egg whites as a simple purifying ingredient, which led to a surplus of egg yolks. Nuns would take these unwanted yolks and bake them into the most delectable pastries and tarts, such as “pastéis de Tentú*gal and ovos moles de Aveiro,” writes the chef.
The outside of the art is made from crispy, flaky pastry, whilst the inside is a creamy, custardy mix. Once baked, the tart is caramelised on top and ready to eat. Our advice is to eat them fresh from the oven, or at least the same day you bought them on, dusted in cinnamon or icing sugar.
However, both the English and Portuguese versions ultimately come from the king of pastries, France, while the egg tarts you'll find in Chinese restaurants and bakeries today are distinct from their European cousins.
Pastel de Nata (cream tart) is Portugal's most famous pastry cake. These small custard delicacies are available everywhere and have small differences in the cream and puff pastry used as a shell.
A specialty all over Lisbon, pasteis de nata are the famous Portuguese egg tart pastries. They have a flaky crust with a custard filling and are best enjoyed topped with a dusting of powdered sugar & cinnamon!
How should I reheat these egg tarts? The best way to reheat these is in the oven or toaster oven, turn it up to about 200C/390F and bake them for about 5 minutes. The custard will be nice and warm and the pastry should be crisp and flaky again!
Food that has passed its best before date is safe to eat. Best before should be considered a rough guide rather than a strict rule. There is no reason to throw away food that goes past its best before date, it is perfectly safe to eat and will often taste just as good.
There are three main varieties of custard: baked custard, stirred custard, and steamed custard. The first two are both popular in Western cuisine. Baked custard is typically firmer and made with whole eggs, while stirred custards can be much runnier and often only contain the yolks.
The tart's ingredients are very simple: a puff pastry filled with a custard made of cream, egg yolks, sugar, flour, and lemon zest. But that simplicity does not mean all egg tarts are created equal — the competition for the best pastel de nata in Lisbon is fierce, and some bakeries even keep their recipe secret.
They are the same thing. The diference is that the pastéis de Belém are pastéis de nata produced by the local pastelaria de Belém supposed to be the place owning the original recipe.
Outside Portugal, they are particularly popular in other parts of Western Europe, Asia and former Portuguese colonies, such as Brazil, Mozambique, Macau, Goa and East Timor.
Introduction: My name is Terence Hammes MD, I am a inexpensive, energetic, jolly, faithful, cheerful, proud, rich person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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