Friday, June 29, 2012

Lisbon a lot of talk about these Portuguese Custards Tarts ( Pasteis de Nata )




This is a very time consuming recipe but I promise it is worth the extra effort! These sweet and creamy pastries have made Lisbon famous. If you want the perfect Portuguese recipe for your next international dinner party this is it! Wow your guests with this dessert at your next book club, tea party, or dinner party...Enjoy! 


Ingredients: Pastry
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
10 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
5 -7 tablespoons ice water


Ingredients: Custard
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup granulated sugar
6 egg yolks
Directions:




Start by making the pastry, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the flour, salt and sugar to combine.


Add the butter and pulse until the flour resembles coarse, uneven cornmeal, about 10 1-second pulses.


Drizzle 5 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture.


Pulse several times to work the water into the flour.


Add the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue pulsing until the mixture develops small curds.


Turn the dough out onto a work surface shaping it into a disc. Then cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.


On a lightly floured surface roll dough out to roughly 1/16-inch thick


Cut out 6 circles ( About 4 1/2 inches in diameter ) 


** Note**
If you don't have a cookie cutter you can use a glass, I recommend the shorter ones, they have a wider mouth.


 Ease the dough circles into a 12-cup  regular size muffin tin, pressing out any overlapping folds.


Place the tin in the freezer for 5 minutes.


Remove and trim any overhang with the back of a knife so that the pastry cups are flush with the top of the tins.


Line dough cups with cupcake papers and fill with dried beans or pastry weights.


** Note** 
Doing this ensures the pastry will stay molded to the shape of the muffin tin, it is a very important step. Not it doesn't matter what kind of beans you use, it is just for even weight distribution. I use black beans. 


Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes to set.


Now you can start on your Custard! 


Dissolve the cornstarch in 1/4 cup of the cream in a medium bowl.


Add the remaining cream and sugar, and stir until the mixture is smooth and the sugar dissolves. ( Very important that you make sure the sugar is fully dissolved! ) 


In a small bowl, blend the yolks with a fork until smooth.


Add the yolks to the cream mixture, stirring gently to combine.


Ladle the egg mixture into the partially baked pastry cups, filling to 2/3 capacity.


Bake at 350  about 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges of the custard are puffed and middle is still jiggly. 


**Note**
The custard will continue to cook in the tin so make sure you  Cool completely in the tin.


The pastéis are best served the same day with plenty of friends and coffee or tea! 






I take no credit for this video, it is not mine. I am just posting it for those in need of a little visual guidance on how to prepare these sweet custardy morsels! 

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