Pastéis de nata recipe

A flour-thickened milk custard married to a boiling sugar syrup infused with cinnamon stick and lemon peel, baked in a spiral pastry shell at the oven's maximum until the top blisters black.

2 hourshard9 ingredients

Ingredients

• 6 egg yolks
• 500 ml milk
• 45 g plain flour
• 300 g sugar
• 150 ml water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 slice lemon peel
• 500 g puff pastry
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

How to make Pastéis de nata

1. Boil 300 g sugar with 150 ml water, 1 cinnamon stick and a wide strip of lemon peel for 3 minutes, then leave it to infuse off the heat.
2. Whisk 45 g plain flour into 500 ml cold milk, pour 500 ml boiling milk over it while whisking, return to the heat and cook 3 minutes until thick. This flour base is what gives the texture — there is no cream in a real pastel.
3. Fish out the cinnamon stick and lemon peel, then pour the hot syrup into the custard in a thin stream while whisking.
4. Let it cool to lukewarm, whisk in 6 egg yolks, strain through a sieve and rest the custard 1 hour, ideally overnight in the fridge.
5. Unroll 500 g puff pastry, brush it with water and roll it into a tight log, then cut 2 cm slices.
6. Stand each slice in a muffin mould and press it out with a wet thumb until it rises slightly above the rim — the spiral is what creates the layers.
7. Fill the moulds three-quarters full and bake at 280–300 °C, the hottest your oven goes, for 10 to 12 minutes.
8. Pull them out when the top is covered in dark, almost black blisters; that scorching, not a smooth golden surface, is the mark of a pastel.
9. Unmould while warm and dust with ground cinnamon just before serving.

Get Copper on the App Store

More dishes from Portugal →