Pastéis De Nata (Portuguese Tarts)

Serves 1
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Directions

  1. 1Add flour to a bowl.
  2. 2Add Himalayan salt to the flour.
  3. 3Pour tepid water into the flour and salt mixture.
  4. 4Squish all the dry bits into the mixture until the bowl is clean and a dough ball forms.
  5. 5Flip the dough ball into a clean bowl.
  6. 6Cover the dough ball with the bowl and let it go into isolation for 30 minutes.
  7. 7Roll out the dough into a big rectangle.
  8. 8Lather soft butter everywhere on the dough rectangle.
  9. 9Cut the buttered dough into four sections.
  10. 10Fold one section of the dough over another, starting from one end.
  11. 11Continue folding the dough sections on top of each other.
  12. 12Roll out the folded dough again.
  13. 13Lather more butter everywhere on the re-rolled dough.
  14. 14Roll the buttered dough into a tight log.
  15. 15Cut the dough log into individual portions.
  16. 16Wrap the dough portions in plastic wrap and place them in the fridge for 2 hours.
  17. 17Add sugar to a saucepan.
  18. 18Pour water into the sugar in the saucepan.
  19. 19Scrape the seeds from half a vanilla bean and add them to the saucepan.
  20. 20Throw the vanilla bean pod into the saucepan.
  21. 21Add lemon peels to the saucepan.
  22. 22Add a cinnamon stick to the saucepan.
  23. 23Add a bit of lemon juice to the saucepan, removing any seeds.
  24. 24Boil the syrup mixture for 5-10 minutes, then put it aside.
  25. 25Add milk to another saucepan.
  26. 26Add flour to the milk.
  27. 27Add salt to the milk and flour.
  28. 28Keep on whisking the milk, flour, and salt mixture until it thickens.
  29. 29Take egg yolks and temper them by gradually adding some of the thickened milk mixture while whisking.
  30. 30Whisk the tempered egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining thickened milk.
  31. 31Whisk the sugar syrup into the egg and milk mixture.
  32. 32Strain the custard mixture through a sieve to remove any weird egg and milk bits, but add the cinnamon, vanilla, and lemon back in for flavor.
  33. 33Cover the custard with plastic wrap, making sure it touches the custard, then place it in the fridge.
  34. 34Take the hardened dough logs out of the fridge and cut them into smaller pieces.
  35. 35Take a dough piece and squish and spin it into a tart mold to form the base.
  36. 36Fill the tart molds three-quarters full with the custard.
  37. 37Bake the tarts until they are golden brown on top (approximately 15 minutes).
  38. 38Let the baked tarts cool down a little before eating.
  39. 39Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the tarts before eating.

Ingredients

  • 205 g all-purpose flour
  • 4 g salt
  • 132 ml water
  • 200 g softened unsalted butter
  • 130 g white sugar
  • 80 ml water
  • 1 unit cinnamon stick
  • 0.5 unit vanilla bean
  • 1 unit lemon peel
  • 40 g flour
  • 350 ml milk
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 6 unit egg yolks

Equipment

bowlrolling pinpizza cuttersaucepanwhiskplastic wrapknifemuffin tinbaking trayoven mitts

Tips

  • Let the tarts cool down a little after baking before eating them, to avoid crying from the heat.
  • Add cinnamon, vanilla, and lemon back to the custard for good flavor after straining it.
  • Temper the eggs slowly with hot milk to prevent curdling.
  • Keep whisking the milk and flour mixture to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.
  • Allow the dough to rest in the fridge for a sufficient time (2 hours or more) to ensure it's firm enough to work with.
  • If things don't go to plan, start with a small batch first (e.g., four tarts).