These Portuguese Pastries made with puff pastry are easy to make and just as good as bakery style pastries. Also known as Pasteis de nata or Portuguese custard tarts are filled with vanilla flavored custard filling.
Love puff pastry? Try my recipe for Nutella Puff Pastry Turnovers, Quick and Easy Cherry Cream Cheese Strudel or my Sheet Pan Crostata.
Visit my recipe box for some more great recipe ideas inspired by Italian tradition!
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Here's Why You'll Love this Dish
- easy to make
- uses pre-made ingredients so you can cut down the preparation time
- great flavors make this for portuguese pastries a dessert that's a hit for any crowd
- bite size so that you won't tip the scale
Custard, Pudding and Pastry Cream
Custards are cream or milk based and are typically stiffer than a pudding. Custards generally need to be baked in a water bath, otherwise it will scorch and crack.
Custard uses eggs as a thickener, where pudding will use an ingredient like flour or cornstarch to thicken it. Pudding doesn't need to be cooked, but it may need to be warmed up in order to thicken it to a pudding consistency.
While I did make homemade custard, you could also cut corners by purchasing instant powdered custard.
Pastry cream differs from Custard in that it used flour or cornstarch and needs to be boiled. This results in the cream being much thicker than custard.
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How to make Portuguese Pastries with Puff Pastry Dough
Depending on how thick you cut out your shells, you may need 2 muffin trays, preferably non stick. If you don't have non stick trays, grease them so that they are ready.
Servings will greatly depend on how thick you cut the puff pastry.
Unroll the puff pastry and lightly brush them with butter to one inch of the edges.
Take each slice and press it into the muffin tin and up sides all the way or as far as you can.
Fill each shell to just below the rim with the custard mixture.
Bake for 5 minutes at 500℉. Then lower temperature to 450℉ and continue cooking for 8 to 12 minutes.
For a professional finish, sprinkle the custard tarts with icing sugar before you serve them to your family or friends.
Storage: Keep the uneaten custard tarts stored in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. Take them out when you are ready to eat them.
Top Tips
If your custard has lumps, strain it using a sieve and wooden spoon, pushing it through into a bowl underneath the sieve.
If making the custard ahead of time, place plastic wrap on top of custard so that it does not form a thick skin and refrigerate until ready to use.
All ovens are different, pay attention while the pastries are cooking that they do not scorch.
Answers to Commonly Asked Questions
Portuguese pastries are also known as Pasteis de nata or Portuguese custard tarts.
Traditionally nuns used egg whites to wash which resulted in leftover egg yolks which were used for baking creating numerous recipes based on the egg yolks.
Main Dishes to Try
Recipe Details
Easy Portuguese Pastries
https://easyhomemaderecipes.caAffiliate Disclosure
This page contains affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
Pastry
- 2 rolls of puff pastry thawed
- 1 tbsp butter
Custard
- 1 cups sugar
- ⅔ cups water
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cups whole milk
- 6 tbsp whole milk
- ½ cups all purpose flour
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Puff Pastry
- Depending on how thick you cut out your shells, you may need 2 muffin trays, preferably non stick. If you don't have non stick trays, grease them so that they are ready.
- Unroll the puff pastry and lightly brush them with butter to one inch of the edges. Roll them back up, wrap them in plastic wrap and place in fridge while you make the custard. Preheat oven to 500°F degrees.
Custard
- Boil the water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside Begin to make custard by heating up half of the milk (`½ cup, 3 tbsp.) until it begins to steam but not boil, add vanilla extract.
- Mix the flour with the remaining milk, add the warm milk a little at a time whisking during additions. Add the water and sugar mixture a little at a time while whisking during additions. Return mixture to the saucepan and continue stirring on the stove top until thickened. Add eggs yolks and cinnamon to mixture one at a time and whisk until well combined.
- Strain if necessary using a sieve. Set aside. If making ahead, place plastic wrap on top of custard so that it does not form a thick skin.
Baking and Assembly
- Remove the puff pastry from the fridge and trim each edge. Then begin to cut 1 ½ inch slices. Take each slice and press it into the muffin tin and up sides all the way or as far as you can. Make sure that the pastry doesn't have any gaps after you stretch it. Repeat until you have used up all the dough.
- Fill each shell to just below the rim with the custard mixture. The custard will boil and expand as it cooks, so you will need a little bit of space or it will boil over the shell.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 500℉. Then lower temperature to 450℉ and continue cooking for 8 to 12 minutes. Watch the oven at all times to make sure that the pastries don't scorch.
- For a professional finish, sprinkle the custard tarts with icing sugar before you serve them to your family or friends.
Notes
Top Tips
If your custard has lumps, strain it using a sieve and wooden spoon, pushing it through into a bowl underneath the sieve. If making the custard ahead of time, place plastic wrap on top of custard so that it does not form a thick skin and refrigerate until ready to use. All ovens are different, pay attention while the pastries are cooking that they do not scorch.Nutrition
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Food Safety
Note that the storage guidelines provided on this page and site are estimates from personal experiences. We are all adults and as an adult you are responsible to ensure that the food you eat is safe to eat. Since, I'm not a food safety expert, you are responsible to review your local guidelines on food storage prior to storing any food left-overs.
Remember to:
- Not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
For Canadian Guidelines check the Government of Canada Food Safety Guidelines or see more guidelines at USDA.gov.
LA says
Overall, this recipe was great! My only two complaints are: cinnamon is mentioned in the ingredient list, but never mentioned in the instructions (I added it after the custard was finished and before I filled the pastry cups and it worked out fine), and this says to cook at 500 degrees for 20-25 minutes, but I pulled them out after 15 minutes because they smelled like they were burning. And the puff pastry was in fact burnt when I pulled them out after they cooled. They were still edible, but any longer in the oven and they wouldn't have been (and would have been totally ruined if I left them in 20 or 25 minutes), so watch them closely while baking. I probably could have taken them out at the 12 or 13 minute mark and avoided burning the puff pastry.
AmyG says
Thank you for your feedback, it's really appreciated. After testing the recipe again, I've made a few adjustments to the cooking temperature, time and instructions. Glad to know that you liked them!