Pastel de Nata — Portuguese Custard Tart

Make a syrup: put the sugar, water, lemon peel and cinnamon stick in a small pot and heat until it reaches a light syrup, about 3 minutes at a steady boil. Turn it off and leave the peel and cinnamon to steep.

Whisk the flour into the cold milk until smooth, then heat it gently, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a loose paste. Take it off the heat.

Strain the warm syrup (discard peel and cinnamon) and pour it in a thin stream into the milk mixture, whisking hard the whole time. Let it cool for 5 minutes, then whisk in the egg yolks and the vanilla. Pass the custard through a sieve — it should be thin and pourable.

💡 Adding hot syrup slowly while whisking is what stops the yolks from scrambling. Pour it in all at once and you get sweet lemon scrambled egg.

Roll the pastry sheet up into a tight log, then slice it into 12 rounds. Press each round into a muffin hole with your thumbs, working the pastry up the sides so the spiral lines show — thin at the bottom, a little lip at the top.

💡 Dip your thumbs in cold water so the pastry does not stick. The base should end up thin — a thick base steams instead of crisping.

Heat the oven as hot as it will go, at least 250°C. Fill each pastry case about three-quarters with the custard — no more, it rises. Bake for 12–15 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and the tops are blistered with dark, almost-burnt spots.

💡 Those black scorch marks are not a mistake — they are the flavour and the sign the oven was hot enough. A pale, evenly yellow tart was underbaked. If your oven cannot reach 250°C, bake near the top under the grill for the last few minutes.

Cool for a few minutes in the tin, then eat warm — dusted with cinnamon if you like. They are best within a couple of hours of baking, while the pastry is still crisp.