Pastéis de Nata with a Cardamom & Rosewater Filling (v)
I first came across these delightful exquisite little tarts on a girls’ weekend in Lisbon. It’s quite a touristy thing to do, taking the tram out to Pastéis de Belem café in Belem and having afternoon tea in this most beautifully decorated café-bakery. If you do venture there expect to queue as it’s very popular, but it’s well worth the wait.
The guidebooks say that the recipe for the custard tart originated from the monks at the monastery and when the monastery closed, the monks relocated to the sugar cane refinery with a small shop situated next door. The recipe for the famous tart was created in 1837.
The building itself, is stunning with its traditional blue and white tiled interior. The table service experience of afternoon tea was delightful with the aromas of sweet cinnamon, sugar and burnt butter pastry wafting around the room.
After visiting the Pastéis de Belem café-bakery and experiencing the real thing, I’ve never quite had anything close to that unique original tart from Lisbon. You can read more about it here.
Perhaps it’s not just the monks’ recipe that is so wonderful, but the whole experience of the café-bakery itself and the location. Lisbon is a fine city and even better on a hot summer’s day.
The original recipe is quite a secret and not so easy to replicate. However, I do think this version of the traditional recipe is a pretty close match to what I remember, if I say so myself!
I’ve adapted my version from the original cinnamon, vanilla and lemon zest custard and added a Moroccan twist. The custard in this version has a hint of cardamom, a dash of rosewater and together with the cinnamon pastry, it’s quite something. I know some chefs don’t tend to bother with making puff pastry from scratch, when the shop bought all- butter puff pastry is excellent. I agree in most cases, but for this recipe making your own puff pastry is definitely worth the effort. Give it a go if you have the time and patience, as you don’t quite get the same amount of flaky layers and crispness with the shop bought pastry, but you’ll be forgiven if you don’t have the time to make it!
These little pastries are really worth making and enjoying either as a breakfast treat or for an afternoon delicacy, whilst thinking about a hot summer’s day in Lisbon, sipping a glass of vinho verde.
Happy baking, Nikki x
Ingredients
Yield: 640g | Prep time: 4-5 hours | Makes: 24 tarts
Puff Pastry
250g plain flour
250g cold unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing muffin tins
1 tsp fine salt
150 ml cold water
or 2x 320g readymade all butter puff pastry sheets
Custard Filling
475g caster sugar
200ml cold water
550ml whole milk
75g cornflour
6 large fresh free range egg yolks (freeze the whites for later use)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
6 cardamom pods, pods removed seeds crushed
1 tbsp rosewater, or two capfuls
Pared piece of lemon rind
Equipment
2x 12 hole muffin trays
2 parchment paper sheets, 20cm x 30cm
Method
Start by greasing the muffins trays with the butter. Pop trays in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Note, skip the following stages if using shop bought pastry and pick up where prompted below.
Puff Pastry
If making pastry from scratch, you’ll need 4-5 hours to allow for intermittent rest and chilling of the dough. Add the sieved flour and salt to a large mixing bowl. Melt 40g of butter and add it to 130ml of cold water and stir. Pour the butter and water liquid little by little into the flour combining it, using a flat bladed knife, adding more water as you go until all the dried flour is mixed to form a craggy dough ball. Use your hands to incorporate all the flour from the bottom of the bowl, adding more water if necessary.
Bring the soft dough ball together and lift it out and wrap in cling film or a beeswax wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Taking your cut sheets of parchment paper, lay on a flat surface and pop the remaining cold 210g of butter in the centre. Lay the second sheet of paper over the top of the butter. Make a 1cm fold around the parchment paper edges creating a little bag. This will prevent the butter oozing out of the open edges when rolling.
Using a rolling pin bash down slightly to soften and roll out the butter to the exact size of the parchment parcel.
Pop the flattened butter in the freezer for 15 mins or 30 mins in the fridge. You want your butter to be the same temperature as the dough.
After the butter has chilled, you’ll be ready to roll out the pastry dough.
Lightly flour a flat working surface and roll out the chilled dough to the 20cm x 30cm rectangle shape. Make sure the shorter edge is at the bottom facing you. To keep your edges straight and neat, use a palette knife or the edge of your rolling pin to tamp the edges straight. It’s important that you always turn your dough in the same direction when rolling and folding, as this helps to create the even layers in your finished pastry.
Once you’ve rolled to the exact shape, remove the top sheet of paper from the butter. Lay the unwrapped butter side a third of the way down the dough sheet, leaving an inch gap all around the edge.
Peel the top layer of paper from the butter. Make sure the butter is straight. Using the palette knife or rolling pin tap the edges to create your neat, straight edges. It should be a perfect rectangle block.
Starting from the bottom, fold the dough/butter a third upwards to create a fold. Then fold down from the top over the first fold, making sure the edges stay neat, to create a large envelope shape. Turn the dough anticlockwise for half a turn, it should look like a folded book facing you. Chill for 30 mins.
After 30 minutes, remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out again into the 20x30 rectangular shape, and repeat the folding from bottom to top, turning once anticlockwise and resting for 30 minutes. Make sure you have tampered the edges straight every time.
Repeat the above process four more times, including the 30 minute rest time in between each fold. In total, you will have repeated the process six times.
After the sixth time and final chill time your pastry is ready to use. This lamenting process helps to create those beautiful flaky layers once cooked.
Note, you can make your homemade puff pastry several days before and keep it wrapped in the fridge or freezer until ready to use. I made my pastry the day before and brought it to room temperature just before using.
Now the hard work is completed!
Cut the dough in half creating two equal pieces around 320g each. You can roll out each pastry block on a lightly floured work surface back to its original rectangular size of 20x30cm. Dust off the excess flour.
Using a tea strainer or flour duster, dust both pastry sheets with the tablespoon of ground cinnamon.
If making tarts with pre-bought puff pastry, pick up from here, dusting the already rolled rectangular sheets with ground cinnamon.
Using the short edge of the pastry rectangle, roll upwards creating a sausage shape. Keeping the edges straight. Cut twelve equal slices of along the dough lengthwise, approx 1.5 cm apart. I found it easier to work from the centre out creating six equal slices either side. Repeat the process with the second sheet of dough.
With each dough piece swirl facing upwards, push into the greased muffin tin holes. Use your thumb to push the dough up the sides of the muffin hole, creating a lip a centimetre above the tin edge. Once you’ve filled both trays, you’ll have 24 little tart cases.
Chill in the fridge while you make the custard filling.
Custard Filling
Add the milk, crushed cardamom seeds and lemon rind to a small saucepan. Heat the milk gently over a low heat to infuse. Strain the cardamom seeds and lemon rind to remove. Pour a little of the milk into the cornflour to make a smooth paste. Pour the cornflour paste back into the milk pan and whisk continually until smooth on a low heat. You are making a roux like sauce, with a double cream consistency.
Take off the heat and let it cool slightly, cover with film to prevent a skin forming. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
Once cooled, pour the mixture into a mixing bowl and whisk in the egg yolks.
Whisk the mixture until the egg yolks are fully incorporated and you have a smooth custard. Pop to one side and cover the surface again with clingfilm.
Preheat the oven to 230C fan/ Gas Mark 8.
Pop the sugar and water into a pan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat so that the sugar is boiling for about 5-6 minutes until it reaches the sugar thread stage. To check for this stage, take off the heat and spoon out a teaspoon on to a saucer. Wait until it’s cooled slightly and dip your finger into the sugar. Using your finger and thumb stretch it out and if it creates a tacky thread you know it’s ready.
Tip the sugar syrup into your custard mixture stirring with a spatula to combine. Remove the pastry cases from the fridge. Pour the custard into a measuring jug and fill your pastry tart cases with custard, leaving an inch gap from the top of the case.
Cook in a hot oven for 15 minutes or until the tops of the tarts are blistered and golden brown.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in their tins. Once cooled, remove with a palette knife on to a cooling rack.
Serve with a hot beverage or a chilled glass of vinho verde for the true Portuguese experience.
Saude (cheers, in Portuguese!), N x
