2 egg yolks
35g sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 vanilla bean
100ml milk
100ml cream
butter, for greasing
230g all butter puff pastry
2 tbsp icing sugar
a small jar of apple compote
cinnamon, to dust
Prep: 50 mins + 1 hour cooling – Makes 10 – Easy
Start by making the custard.
Combine the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar and cornstarch in a bowl and mix.
Slice open the vanilla bean, scrape out the seeds and put both into a saucepan with the milk and the cream. Gently heat the liquid until nearly boiling. Remove the vanilla bean.
Slowly pour the hot liquid into the egg mixture, whisking vigorously in order not to curdle the eggs. Pour back into the saucepan and put over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken and covers the back of a spoon.
Pour the custard into a bowl and leave to cool for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
Grease the holes of a muffin tin and refrigerate until needed.
Unroll the puff pastry and dust with 2 tablespoons of icing sugar, distributing the sugar evenly over the puff pastry disc. Roll the puff pastry back onto itself and cut into 10 slices.
Place the pastry slices cut-side down on a piece of baking paper, cover with another piece of baking paper and roll into discs big enough to line your muffin holes. Line the 10 muffin cases with the pastry, pricking the base with a fork.
Put 1 teaspoon of apple compote into each puff pastry case, then top with custard, leaving a 1cm margin below the top as the custard will rise significantly in the oven.
Bake the pastries in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Take them out of the muffin tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
When cool, dust with cinnamon and serve at room temperature.
TIP: The tarts will keep in an airtight box for up to 2 days. If they soften, crisp them up in a medium oven for 5 minutes.
You are hilarious!
I am Portuguese living in America and ate Aachtchen danish. It’s delicious!
Flaky pastries are all over the Western world. The Portuguese are grateful to live abroad where we are paid a little bit better doing the same dead end jobs. Thank you for enjoying pastel de nata.
I absolutely love them – but I have to say, the best pastéis I ate in Portugal 🙂 They were still warm…!!! Sooo good!