Pastel de Nata
The most famous Portuguese dessert: crisp, flaky pastry filled with creamy egg custard, dusted with cinnamon and sugar. Best eaten warm.
8 ingredients
8 steps
Ingredients
- 1For the pastry: 1 sheet puff pastry (store-bought or homemade)
- 2For the custard: 250ml whole milk
- 33 egg yolks
- 4100g caster sugar
- 525g plain flour
- 61 cinnamon stick
- 7Zest of 1 lemon
- 8Ground cinnamon and icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- 1Preheat oven to 250°C (480°F). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
- 2Roll out puff pastry tightly into a log, then slice into 12 rounds. Press each round into a muffin cup, shaping up the sides.
- 3Heat milk with cinnamon stick and lemon zest until just simmering. Remove from heat and discard cinnamon and zest.
- 4Whisk egg yolks with sugar and flour until smooth. Slowly add the hot milk, stirring constantly.
- 5Return mixture to pan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened to a pourable custard.
- 6Fill each pastry case to about 3/4 full with the warm custard.
- 7Bake for 10–15 minutes until the custard has dark caramel spots and the pastry is golden.
- 8Cool slightly, then dust generously with ground cinnamon and icing sugar. Best served warm.