Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)

Before starting this Pasteis de Nata recipe, organise all the necessary ingredients for the reverse puff pastry.

For the dough: In a food mixer recipient, shape the flour into a fountain. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can totally make puff pastry from scratch. Arrange the flour in the shape of a fountain on your workbench. Add the salt...

... and cold water.

Using the dough hook, start kneading at low speed to incorporate the flour, then increase the speed...

... until a ball forms. If you are not using a mixer, gather the flour with your fingers by drawing it into the water until all the flour is incorporated and you obtain a ball.

Remove the dough from the bowl...

... and wrap in cling film.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can prepare the dough the day before and store in the fridge overnight.

For the preparation of the butter: Shape the flour into a fountain. Place the butter in the centre. The butter should be at room temperature, cut into cubes.

With your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour...

... until homogeneous. Shape the butter into a rectangle, with a thickness of 1 cm.

Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can prepare the butter the day before and store in the fridge overnight.

For the turns: Place the butter on a floured surface.

Using a rolling pin, roll the butter into a long strip.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle, to the same width and half the length of the butter strip. Place the dough rectangle in the centre of the butter strip.

Fold the top part over the dough...

... then the bottom part. The dough should be wrapped with butter.

Roll out lengthwise, to a thickness of 1 cm.

For the first double turn: Fold the top quarter of the dough over.

Remove the flour excess with a flour brush or a pastry brush. This is really important, as we don't want to add any extra flour to the dough.

Fold the bottom quarter of the dough over.

The ends should not meet in the centre. There should be a gap of approximately 2 cm.

Fold the dough in half from the gap in the centre.

This operation is called a double turn (which equals two single turns). This folding method is also called "portefeuille" ("wallet turn").

Wrap the dough block in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Place the dough on a floured surface, with the folds to the side.

For the second double turn: Roll out lengthwise, to a thickness of 1 cm. Of course, you can use a manual laminator for this recipe.

Fold the top quarter of the dough over.

Fold the bottom quarter of the dough over.

The ends should not meet in the centre. There should be a gap of approximately 2 cm.

Fold the dough in half from the gap in the centre. The second double turn is now complete. Inside-out puff pastry requires two double turns and one single turn.

Wrap the dough block in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the single turn: Place the dough on a floured surface, with the folds to the side.

Roll out lengthwise, to a thickness of 1 cm.

Fold the top third of the dough over...

... then fold the bottom third over. There should be three layers of pastry. Wrap the dough block in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

The reverse puff pastry is now finished. The longer you store it in the fridge, the better the results. I strongly recommend making this pastry the day before.

The following day: Roll out the reverse puff pastry on a floured surface...

... into a regular rectangle.

Roll out the dough lengthwise. The puff pastry should be compact, without any air bubbles.

Shape the dough into a roll...

... then slice into portions to a 1cm width.

Using an oil spray, grease the pastéis de nata moulds.

Take a portion of dough and flatten it with your thumb on a floured surface to create a disc shape...

... as shown in the photo.

Line one mould with the pastry disc...

... making sure the pastry comes up a few millimetres to cover the rim.

Repeat the operation and arrange the moulds on a baking sheet. Refrigerate.

For the cream filling: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Zest one lemon, making sure you only zest the yellow part (the white layer will give a bitter taste). Place the lemon zest in a saucepan.

Add the castor sugar...

... the water, ground cinnamon...

... and the vanilla extract.

Bring to a boil then cook until the temperature reaches 105°C. It should take 3 or 4 minutes.

Pour the flour in a mixing bowl...

... add half of the milk and whisk vigorously to avoid lumps.

Add the salt.

Add the remaining milk...

... and combine with a whisk.

Transfer the preparation into a saucepan...

... and bring to a boil. The consistency should be similar to a béchamel sauce.

Add the syrup to the preparation. Leave the lemon zest for now.

Combine well with a whisk...

... until homogeneous, without lumps. Leave to cool for 30 minutes.

Remove the pastry cases from the fridge...

... and cut the pastry excess along the sharp rim of the mould. Set aside.

Add a little bit of warm preparation to the egg yolks. (Do not trust the quantity of eggs shown in the photo, as proportions were doubled for this recipe.)

Combine well with a whisk.

Pour the mix into the rest of the warm cream...

... and combine with a whisk until homogeneous.

Pour the preparation in a funnel dispenser...

... and fill the pastry cases with cream...

... up to 0.5cm from the top.

You should now have 10 uncooked pastéis de nata.

Place in a fan-assisted oven preheated at 240°C (gas 9).

The cakes should take about 15 minutes to cook. The surface should be puffed and golden.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

The tartlets should look like this.

The puffing will stop while cooling down. Set aside until cooled down completely before serving. Pastéis de nata are best served cold or slightly warm. Enjoy!