As you may or may not know, I went to Lisbon for my summer hols this year and whilst there I quickly discovered the wonderful, heavenly, Portugese delicacy that are Natas (or Pasteis de Nata), which I obviously would do, because I love all things sweet and pastry related, yay! And let me tell you now, I had one of those delicious bad boys every single day of my holiday (major yolo-ing) and was beyond gutted when I had to leave my new favourite food behind, along with the fabulous weather, when I came home.
I therefore promised myself that I would learn how to make these Natas, which are essentially like English Egg Custard Tarts except 1) the pastry is flaky and 2) the custard filling is slightly runnier and way more tasty, and a couple of days ago I finally did it. In the above photo you can see my results, which didn't turn out too bad and were so incredibly delicious (which none of us were expecting) that everyone in my family has been secretly ducking in and out of the tin where they're currently being stored to nab one or two or three (yes that was me who had three).
The recipe I found and followed was so simple and easy, which was a nice surprise as I expected them to be Masterchef or Great British Bake Off semi finals hard, ie. not for amateur bakers like myself, therefore I thought I'd share the recipe with you laaaavely people so you can experience the goodness for yourself. And interestingly enough, these little Natas aren't as bad for you as you might think, and therefore make for a perfect little snack with a cup of tea or coffee.
The recipe I'm about to describe for you below is from the wonderfully named 'Not Quite Nigella' and can be seen via this link, although I've added a few personal tweaks to the one below, and this is the recipe for the puff pastry that I used.
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This recipe makes 12 MEDIUM SIZED TARTS AND 6 SMALLER TARTS and for the custard you will need...
-This recipe can be made with or without the cream, and if using cream with milk, the thickness of the cream is your choice, although the thicker it is, the creamier the custard. Similarly if you use just milk, you can use full fat, semi skimmed or skimmed and use just one of these types of milk, or mix it up eg. 230ml skimmed, 170ml full fat. I used just 400ml of skimmed milk and still had wonderful results!
1
Heat the oven to 200 degrees.
2
In a pan (without heat yet!) mix or whisk the three egg yolks with two tablespoons of cornflour and
100g of caster sugar (nb. you can use more or less than this) until all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly and reach a sludgy, paste-like consistency.
3
Gradually whisk in the cream/ milk and then heat the pan on the hob at a medium heat, stirring regularly. Don't worry if it seems really runny and full of air bubbles because at some random moment, and trust me, it's random, the mixture will start to bubble and suddenly thicken, and at this point it's time to take the pan of the heat.
4
Next comes the flavouring of the custard, for which you will need...
and stir these two into the custard as soon as you take it off the heat, before pouring the custard
into a bowl and covering it with clingfilm to prevent a skin forming on the top. Then place the custard in the fridge for 10-15 to allow it to cool slightly.
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MAKING THE PASTRY
1
Grease a muffin tin using greaseproof paper and butter and a few cases of a fairy cake tin if making
smaller Natas.
2
If you're using ready made pastry, you need to roll it out on a work top dusted with flour, using a flour dusted rolling pin to between 0.5mm - 1cm thick (again it's your choice!) and use cookie cutters or the top of a glass or cup to cut out circles, choosing smaller sized circles if making smaller Natas.
If you're making the puff pastry yourself, follow the instructions on this link, and although it will take longer to make, it will still taste just as good (and you'll feel all proud of yaself) and don't worry if it isn't really flaky because mine wasn't at all but it tasted so lovely. Again when you reach the stage of rolling out the pastry, get it to a thickness between 0.5mm-1cm and cut out circles.
3
Stretch out the circles slightly, almost like you would the dough when making a home made pizza, though not so much that the pastry is super duper thin and breaking, and line the cases in the tin, making sure the pastry looks like a little mini tart shape.
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ASSEMBLING YOUR TART AND EATING IT (aka. the best bit)
1
Take the custard out of the fridge and pour spoonfuls of the custard into each
case, making it as full as you like although it's best to restrain yourself, if possible, if you're hoping to fill more tarts.
2
Cook in the oven initially for 20-25 minutes and if the custard still looks runny leave it for five more minutes or so and when all the tarts have browned ever so slightly (you don't want to burn them!), kind of like in the main photo, take the tarts out of the oven and leave to cool for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
3
Eat as soon as you like, which for me was five minutes after the Natas came out the oven which mean that the custard was all warm and gooey. Don't worry about the custard seeming too runny when you take the Natas out of the oven as it will firm slightly when it cools. The Natas should keep for at least four days, maybe longer, although that's with the assumption that there'll be any left after the first two days!
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And with that I'll finish with a nice photo of Portugal...
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