Recipe below - follow along! The Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon, Portugal is famous for their incredibly delicious 'pastel de nata' egg custard tart pastry, and we were lucky enough to go behind the scenes. Now, bake along as we demystify and recreate the famous Portuguese custard tart!
Anna's Food Travel Diaries is #sponsored by Rolling Meadows!
Special thanks to Piriquita in Sintra, Portugal
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• Recipe Information •
Makes 12 individual tarts
The tarts can be stored chilled for up to 3 days.
• Ingredients •
Dough:
2½ cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp (12 g) granulated sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
3 Tbsp (45 mL) vegetable oil
1 cup (225 g) cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces (does not have to be ice cold)
¼ cup (60 mL) cool water
2 tsp white vinegar or fresh lemon juice
Laminating:
5 Tbsp (75 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
Custard:
1 cup (250 mL) half-and-half cream
¾ cup (175 mL) whole or 2% milk
3-4 strips of lemon peel (yellow part only)
1 cinnamon stick
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
2 Tbsp + 1 tsp (11 g) cornstarch
1 Tbsp (15 g) unsalted butter
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• Chapters •
0:00 Going inside the famous Pastéis de Belém bakery's kitchen
3:19 Approaching the recipe
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• RECIPE BEGINS HERE •
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3:45 Start the pastry with dry ingredients, then oil
Stir the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the oil. Using a pastry cutter, electric beaters or a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend until the flour looks evenly crumbly.
4:33 Add the butter
Cut in until the dough is rough and crumbly but small pieces of butter are still visible.
5:22 Add the liquids
Place the water and vinegar (or lemon juice) in a small bowl, stir together and then add all at once to the flour mixture, mixing just until the dough comes together.
6:56 Shape the dough
Flatten into a square, wrap well and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
7:36 Prepare to laminate the dough
Pull the pie dough from the fridge 30 minutes before rolling. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the entire piece of pie dough into a rectangle shape 20-inches by 12-inches and ¼-inch thick.
8:57 Add extra butter
Spread 5 Tbsp of butter evenly over the surface of the pastry and roll it up from the short end (to create a spiral effect of sorts). Wrap and chill the dough while preparing the filling.
10:21 Start making the pastry cream
Heat the cream and milk with the lemon peel and cinnamon stick in a heavy-bottomed saucepot over medium heat to just below a simmer.
11:47 Combine the cream ingredients
Whisk the eggs yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl. Remove the lemon peel and cinnamon stick. Slowly pour the hot cream into the egg mixture while whisking, and then pour this back into the pot.
13:13 Heat the custard
Whisk the custard constantly over medium heat until it thickens and just begins to bubble, about 3 to 4 minutes. Strain the custard into a bowl, stir in the butter, and place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard, to prevent a skin from forming. Cool the custard on the counter for 15 to minutes before filling, or custard can be chilled and tarts filled later.
14:34 Create the pastry shells
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Remove the pastry dough from the fridge and cut 12 discs from the log. Roll out each portion on a lightly floured surface to just shy of ¼-inch thick and cut a round about 4-inches across. Press each portion into the muffin tin, so that the edges of each tart shell are about ½-inch above the edge of each muffin cup.
16:36 Spoon or pipe the custard into the pastry
17:07 Bake
Place the tarts in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes (up to 35 minutes if the custard is chilled), until the pastry is golden brown and the custard has browned on top somewhat. Once done, cool the tarts in the tin before removing to serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.
17:45 Admire the delicious results!
18:25 Take a bite!
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