Pastéis de nata

In honor of our wedding anniversary weekend, we made our favorite honeymoon treat from Portugal, pastéis de nata! These tiny tarts come in the flakiest puff pastry dough, and they are filled with a light and creamy custard. All the bakeries and cafés in Lisbon had these tiny treats, which were perfectly accompanied with espresso!

Ingredients (makes 12)

• 1 frozen sheet of puff pastry

• 1 bowl of ice water

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1&1/2 cups of whole milk

• 1&1/3 cups white sugar

• 1/3 cup water

• 6 eggs

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 lemon

• Ground cinnamon (and optional powdered sugar) for dusting on top

• Oil or butter (for greasing the muffin tin)

Kitchen Tools

• Muffin tin (PRO TIP: if you use a silicone muffin tin, no greasing the tin is needed!)

• Probe thermometer

• Fine sieve

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 550 deg F (yes, very hot!)

2. Set the frozen sheet of puff pastry aside to thaw (~30 minutes).

3. Using a pairing knife or a peeler, zest the lemon peel into strips. (Save the lemon for something else, perhaps some lemonade?)

4. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the sugar, water, vanilla extract, lemon peels, and cinnamon stick to a boil. While the the pot is heating, DO NOT STIR! Cook until a thermometer reads a temperature of 220°F (100°C). Once it has reached temperature, turn the flame off. No stirring needed!

5. In a different saucepan, whisk the milk, flour, and salt together very thoroughly. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for about 5 minutes or until it is combined and thickened combined. Take off the heat and let cool (~10 mins).

6. Separate the yolks from the eggs. (Save the egg whites for something else, perhaps an egg white omelette?)

7. Once the milk mixture is cooled, whisk in the egg yolks one at a time. Then add the lemon peel syrup, and mix until everything is well-combined.

8. Using a sieve, strain the mixture into a large bowl. Set aside.

9. Next, cut the puff pastry sheet into two halves and place them on top of each other. Tightly roll the two sheets into a log, from the short side.

10. Next, cut the log into 12 evenly sized pieces. (PRO TIP: In order to get the most evenly sized pieces, use a sharp knife and clean the knife in between each cut. This will help prevent the knife from dragging through the dough.)

11. If you have a metal muffin tin, grease the sides with some oil or butter.

12. Place one piece in each of the wells of the muffin tin.

13. Dipping your fingers in ice water, carefully press into the center of the dough piece, working your way outwards, constantly pressing, in order to form a cup with the puff pastry. Make the cup walls as high as possible - the dough will be very thin, but avoid making holes.

14. Fill each pastry cup ¾ of the way to the top with the custard mixture.

15. Put the tray in the oven and bake until the custard starts to caramelize (dark brown spots will appear and blister) and the pastry becomes a golden brown (~10 minutes).

16. Once they are cooked, let cool for ~15 minutes.

17. To serve, dust them with ground cinnamon (and powdered sugar if you wish!) Highly recommend to enjoy with espresso (or coffee in our case!)

Adapted from Spanish Sabores