Portuguese pastry with custard
Description
The recipe won't take much time. I won't be wrong if I say that the pastries "Pastéis de nata" are among Portugal's culinary symbols. The recipe for these pastries is kept secret, but despite that, the pastries have spread around the world and today they are baked in many countries. It is possible that the original pastries contain some secret ingredient, but overall this recipe is very similar to them. Cooking is very simple, follow the step‑by‑step recipe and bake with pleasure. You definitely won't get by with just one piece. Serve cooled or slightly warm.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Prepare the ingredients.
- 2
Step 2
Pour 200 ml of milk into a sauté pan, add a cinnamon stick, the zest of one lemon (without the white pith), and heat to a boil.
- 3
Step 3
Add the flour to the remaining 100 ml of milk and stir well so that there are no lumps.
- 4
Step 4
Pour the flour mixture into hot milk, stir.
- 5
Step 5
Prepare a sugar syrup from water and sugar, bring it to a boil.
- 6
Step 6
Pour the sugar syrup into the milk‑flour mixture and stir.
- 7
Step 7
Strain the cream base to remove any lumps, and discard the cinnamon and zest.
- 8
Step 8
Cover the cream with plastic wrap, sealing it edge to edge, and chill to room temperature.
- 9
Step 9
While the cream cools, work on the “little baskets”; for this, roll the sheet of puff pastry into a tight roll.
- 10
Step 10
Cut the dough into circles 1.5–2 cm thick; from a standard sheet of puff pastry weighing 250 g you get 8 pieces.
- 11
Step 11
Flatten the dough with your hands into a disc and place it into the mold, raising the edges to form a little basket.
- 12
Step 12
When the custard part of the cream cools to room temperature, add 2–4 egg yolks (depending on size) to it and stir.
- 13
Step 13
Fill the cream into all “baskets” leaving about 5 mm from the edges; during baking the cream will rise upward, keep that in mind. Bake the pastries at 250 °C for 20–25 minutes, watching for doneness.
- 14
Step 14
The finished pastries should be cooled to room temperature and served at the table; they go perfectly with coffee.