Portuguese Pasteis de Nata: Flaky Custard Tarts Made with Store-Bought Puff Pastry

Heat the oven to its highest setting, 500 to 550F, and butter a 12-cup standard muffin tin.

Serves 12

Ingredients

• 1 sheet (about 9 oz) all-butter puff pastry, thawed
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 strip lemon peel
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Ground cinnamon and powdered sugar, for serving

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to its highest setting, 500 to 550F, and butter a 12-cup standard muffin tin.
2. Roll the pastry into a tight log from the short end, cut into 12 rounds, and press each round into a muffin cup, pushing the dough up the sides with a wet thumb so the base is thin.
3. Warm the milk with the cinnamon stick and lemon peel until steaming, then whisk 3 tablespoons of it into the flour to make a smooth paste. Whisk the paste back into the milk and cook until slightly thickened. Remove the cinnamon and peel.
4. In a small saucepan, boil the sugar and water to 220F, about 3 minutes, then slowly whisk the syrup into the milk mixture.
5. Let it cool 10 minutes, then whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla and strain into a jug.
6. Fill each pastry cup three-quarters full.
7. Bake 10 to 13 minutes until the pastry is crisp and the custard is blistered with dark spots on top.
8. Cool 10 minutes in the tin, then lift out. Dust with cinnamon and powdered sugar. They keep 2 days in a tin; re-crisp 5 minutes in a hot oven.
9. Pasteis de nata were created before the 18th century by monks at the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon's Belem district, who used leftover yolks after starching habits with egg whites. When the monastery closed in 1834, the recipe was sold to a nearby sugar refinery, and the Pasteis de Belem bakery still guards the original formula today.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 220 kcal
• Protein: 4g
• Fat: 11g
• Carbohydrates: 27g
• Fiber: 0g
• Sugar: 15g
• Sodium: 85mg