Portuguese Custard Tarts with puff pastry

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5 from 3 votes

Portuguese Custard Tarts with puff pastry

Course Dessert

Cuisine Portuguese

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Servings 12 custard tarts

Ingredients

Pastry

▢ 14 ounce / 1 ounce /400g ready rolled, store bought or homemade puff pastry See note 1

Syrup

▢ ¾ (150g) white granulated sugar
▢ ⅓ cup (75 ml) water

Milk and Flour mixture

▢ 1 cup (250ml) whole / full fat milk (divided in half)
▢ 3 ¾ Tablespoon (30g) plain or all-purpose flour
▢ 1 stick cinnamon see note 2
▢ Peel only of one medium size lemon

Egg yolks

▢ 4 large egg yolks only

Instructions

The Pastry

Lightly flour a work surface and cut puff pastry into roughly 12 equal rounds using a 3 ½ inch (roughly 8 ½ to 9 cm) cookie cutter.
Use cooking spray or melted butter to lightly grease 12 egg tart molds OR a 12-cup regular muffin pan.
Press each piece of puff pastry down and up onto the sides of the muffin holes until evenly distributed.
Place the molds or muffin pan with the pastry in the refrigerator while you prepare the syrup and custard. See note 3

Make The syrup

Add water and sugar to a small pot and place on the stove. Turn the heat up to medium and stir for about 1 minute to dissolve the sugar.
When you see tiny bubbles appear on the surface of the pot, set a timer to 3 minutes.
During these 3 minutes, leave the syrup to boil WITHOUT stirring.
Turn the stove off, take the pot off the stove and set aside while you prepare the custard. The syrup will continue to thicken as it cools. This is normal and will be at the perfect consistency when it is time to mix into the custard.

Make the milk and flour mixture

Pour half of the measured milk into the bowl with the flour. Whisk until smooth and the flour dissolved.
Pour the remaining milk into a medium sized pot and add in the cinnamon stick, lemon peel.
Place the pot on to the stove and heat for 1 minute on a medium setting.
Leave the pot on the heat and slowly pour in the the dissolved flour mixture while whisking continuously.
Within approximately 1 minute you will notice the mixture thickening. As soon as it starts to thicken, turn off the stove or gas and take the pot off the heat.
Pour the syrup into the thickened milk mixture and whisk for about 1 minute, until smooth.

The egg yolks

Pour about a tablespoon of the combined milk/syrup mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks. Whisk for 10 seconds until combined.
This is referred to as tempering the eggs. It's when a little of the hot liquid is added to the eggs. This brings the eggs to approximately the same temperature of the hot mixture. The tempered eggs are now stable enough to be added to the rest of the hot mixture without the risk of it curdling or scrambling.
Pour the tempered egg yolks into the pot with the milk/syrup mixture. Do not place the pot back on to the stove or heat
Whisk for 1 minute to form a smooth custard. Don't worry if the custard doesn't look very thick now. This is normal and will thicken and set once it has baked.

Strain the custard

Place a sieve or strainer over a measuring jug or bowl. Pour the custard through the sieve.
This is so that you are left with a smooth custard as it passes through the sieve. Any bits of flour that might not have dissolved will be caught in the strainer.
Discard the cinnamon stick, lemon peel and any bits of flour caught in the strainer.

Assemble and bake

Pre heat the oven to a very hot 470°F (240°C) 220° (fan).
Get the cold molds or muffin tin lined with the puff pastry out of the refrigerator.
Fill the puff pastry cases just under ¾ full. The custard will not spill over the cases as it bakes. It will thicken and puff up while baking, then deflate and shrink back down as it cools.
Immediately after filling, place the filled pastry cases into the very hot preheated oven.
Bake for between 18 to 25 minutes until the shells are golden brown and crisp. See note 4
The custards will be set, and the tops scorched with spots. See note 5
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then, remove the tarts from the pan or molds and transfer to a wire rack.
Sprinkle with cinnamon if you prefer. Serve warm.

Storage

At room temperature: 1 to 2 days in an airtight container
In the refrigerator: Up to 5 days in an airtight container.
In the freezer: The texture of the baked custard tarts degrades rapidly the longer they are left in the freezer. I would advise only storing them frozen for up to a month.
Beyond this point, they’ll become grainy and the custard sometimes splits. As always, make sure you take time to label your frozen tarts so you know when to consume them by.

How to reheat

Portuguese custard tarts can be eaten cold. If you prefer it warmed, this can be done in the microwave for a few seconds or reheated in the oven:
To reheat and crisp up your Portuguese egg tart from the refrigerator simply preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake for 6-8 minutes. If reheating from frozen, then bake for 13-15 minutes.

Notes

1. Traditional recipes are made using homemade puff pastry. If you are able or prefer to make to make your own puff pastry for this recipe, then go for it too. I however opted for the pre made puff pastry. If using store bought frozen puff pastry, try to get the best quality pastry and allow it to thaw out, but still be cold before cutting into rounds. DO NOT use short crust pastry. Puff pastry is recommended which produces a flaky baked crust

2. If you don't have any cinnamon sticks, then simply add a ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon powder to the custard instead of a stick. Alternately you can sprinkle cinnamon powder over the baked Portuguese tart.

3. It's important that the puff pastry dough be cold in the molds or muffin tin before filling with the warm custard. Refrigerating keeps the butter in the pastry firm and cold. When it's time to fill, the warm custard will not soak into it. This will prevent a soggy crust. You want a flaky crust, not soggy. The filled pastry must then be placed in the preheated oven right after you pour the custard, because if you wait and let them sit, the custard will seep into the shells and the bottoms may get soggy.

4. Don't be alarmed if you see the custard puff up while baking. This is normal, they will puff up then deflate and shrink back down as it cools.

5. Remember all ovens behave differently. If after the baking time you do not see that scorched custard top, it's still perfectly fine. Your custard tarts are baked and will taste just great. However, if you still do want that classic or iconic look, then simply place the baked tarts under the hot grill or broiler for just a few seconds. Watch as it browns, do not walk away from your oven. Do not leave under the grill/broiler for more than 1 minute. Once browned, remove from the oven.

Nutrition

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