Mmmmm pastry - was my thought coming into pastry week. I always love seeing what the bakes come up with, and as two of the challenges were savoury pies, my boyfriend decided to have a go at a shortcrust pie for the first time. His recipe/experience will be up soon. In the meantime, I had a go at the technical challenge, Portuguese custard tarts (known as Pasteis de Nata). I've made them once before, years ago, and I remember them being delicious.
This recipe also intrigued me, because a) it used rough puff pastry, which I've had little success with in the past (I've had more success using proper puff pastry to be honest), and b) the custard recipe is really odd!
I really took my time with the bake, and I'd recommend you do that too - the pastry needs to be really cold to work with, and if you're not in a hurry, those extra few minutes will save you worry when rolling out! It was fairly straight forward though :) The only thing I'd recommend is when you press the pastry into the muffin tins, get the pastry as thin as possible (a few of mine were a little thick on the bottom - still tasted great though!).
The recipe worked really well, and have been really well received. The custard tastes amazing with the hint of lemon and cinnamon, and the pastry came out a treat! I even got the swirl Prue and Paul were talking about:
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| If you turn the tarts over, you should see a swirl similar to this |
Ingredients:
For the rough puff pastry:
- 150g (1 & 1/4 cups) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- A pinch of salt
- 25g (2 tbsp) butter, chilled and cut into cubes
- 4 - 6 tbsp chilled water
- 60g (1/4 cup) butter, frozen as a block, then grated coarsely
For the custard filling:
- 375ml (1 & 3/5 cups) whole milk
- 45g (3 tbsp) plain flour
- 2 strips of lemon peel (I used a standard peeler to do this)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 185ml (4/5 cup) water
- 375g (1 & 2/3 cup) caster sugar
- 7 egg yolks
Method:
1. Make the puff pastry. Sift the flour into a bowl and add the salt. Rub in the chilled butter using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gradually add the water, a tablespoon at a time, until it forms a dough.
2. Spread a piece of clingfilm over your surface, and place your pastry dough on top. Cover with another piece of clingfilm. Roll the dough into a rough rectangle. Grate half of the frozen butter over the bottom two thirds of the dough. Fold down the top third and fold up the bottom third (as if you are making a leaflet).
3. Turn the folded dough 90 degrees, and roll it out into a rectangle again. Add the other half of the grated frozen butter. Fold down the top third and fold up the bottom third as previously. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
4. Roll and fold the pastry as in step 3. Turn the dough 90 degrees, roll out to a rectangle again, then fold the top third down and the bottom third up. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
5. Roll the pastry between two sheets of clingfilm to a rectangle measuring 20cm x 30cm (8 x 12 inches). Roll the pastry tightly, from the short side, into a log and cut the log into 12 evenly sized rounds.
6. Pick up one of the pastry pieces. Place one disc into the cup of a 12 hole muffin tin, so that the swirl is facing upwards. swirl-side up. Carefully press the pastry up the sides with your fingers, working from the centre out, until the pastry just pokes over the top (try to get the pastry as thin as possible, and be very careful - the pastry can rip!). Repeat with the remaining pieces of pastry. Chill for at least 20 minutes.
7. Whilst the dough is chilling, make the custard. Pour the milk into a pan. Sieve over the flour and whisk in. Add the strips of lemon zest and the cinnamon stick, then bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking continuously (so you don't get lumps). Simmer for 2-3 minutes until thick. Remove from the heat.
8. Pour the caster sugar into a small pan with the water. Place the pan on a low heat, and slowly melt the sugar. Once you can no longer see any sugar crystals, turn up the heat and boil until the syrup reaches around 112C/234F. Whilst whisking the milk mixture, carefully pour over the boiling syrup.
9. Place the egg yolks in a large bowl and pour over the milk mixture, whisking continuously until combined. Place a sheet of clingfilm over the surface and leave to cool. Once cool, remove the strips of lemon zest and cinnamon stick.
10. Preheat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/ 464F/Gas mark 9. Pour the custard into the pastry cases to around 1cm below the top. Bake in the hot oven for around 12 minutes. At this point, turn the tin around (to get an even bake) and bake for a further 3-5 minutes, until the pastry is golden and crisp and the custard is bubbling with tiny brown spots.
11. Remove from the oven, cool in the tin for around 5 minutes, then gently turn out the tarts and leave to cool on a wire rack.
12. Apreciar!
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