Few pastries have won over as many hearts (and tastebuds) as Portuguese custard tarts.
Visitors line up outside popular bakeries for them. Locals have strong opinions about which places make the best.
The treats in question are Portuguese custard tarts, or pastéis de nata. What came about as a result of some 18th-century monks doing laundry (yes, really) has grown into one of the most iconic pastries in the world.
While eating a pastel (or multiple pastéis) de nata in Lisbon is understandably a bucket-list dream for so many people, there’s no need to wait until you’re able to travel to Portugal to try them. With this Portuguese custard tarts recipe, you can bring Lisbon’s most beloved pastry to life at home.
The origin of a Portuguese favorite
Remember those laundry-washing monks we mentioned earlier? Let’s go back to them for a second.
Said monks lived at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, a seaside neighborhood west of central Lisbon. It was common for them to use egg whites to starch their clothes when washing them, but they soon realized that they had a lot of leftover yolks to deal with.
So the monks did what most people had been doing with egg yolks in Portugal for ages: used them in baked goods. Soon, the first pastéis de nata were born.
In 1820, the Liberal Revolution in Portugal cut off funding to religious institutions. In order to raise money to keep the monastery afloat, the monks began selling their pastries, which before long became a hit.
However, it wasn’t enough, and the monastery ended up closing anyway. When closing up shop, the monks sold their Portuguese custard tarts recipe to the local sugar refinery and called it a day.
Knowing that they had a winner on their hands, the owners of the sugar refinery opened their own bakery just down the street from the old monastery. The bakery is still there today, and if you’ve visited Lisbon, you may have even been there: the original Pastéis de Belém.
Where to eat Portuguese custard tarts in Lisbon
The original Portuguese custard tarts recipe at Pastéis de Belém has become so iconic that many people simply refer to the treats as pastéis de Belém. But it’s not the only place in Lisbon with tarts worth trying.
On our Tastes & Traditions of Lisbon food tour, we cap things off with a pastel de nata at Manteigaria in the Chiado neighborhood. Here, they’re always served warm, and it’s fascinating to be able to watch the bakers hard at work.
Another standout spot is Confeitaria Nacional, Lisbon’s oldest and most storied traditional pastry shop. Not only are the custard tarts themselves unbelievably good, but the place itself is visually stunning with a gorgeously preserved 19th-century interior.
Ready to try these beauties for yourself (and too impatient to wait until your next trip to Portugal)? Let’s make some pastéis de nata!
Portuguese custard tarts recipe
Makes 12 custard tarts
Ingredients
280 grams (1 1/3 cup) white sugar
80 milliliters (1/3 cup) water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lemon peel, cut into strips
1 cinnamon stick
355 milliliters (1 1/2 cups) whole milk
43 grams (1/3 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 large egg yolks
One 250 gram (8.5 oz) sheet pre-rolled puff pastry
Ground cinnamon and powdered sugar, for dusting on top (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 290 degrees Celsius (550 degrees Fahrenheit). Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
Add the sugar, water, vanilla extract, lemon peel, and cinnamon stick to a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook without stirring until a thermometer reads 100 degrees Celsius (220 degrees Fahrenheit).
In a separate pan, thoroughly whisk together the milk, flour and salt. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, whisking constantly. When the mixture is well combined and the milk has thickened, remove from the heat and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Once the milk mixture has cooled, whisk in the egg yolks. Remove the cinnamon stick from the sugar syrup and pour that into the milk mixture as well. Mix until well combined, then strain into a measuring jug.
Cut the pastry sheet in half across the longer side. Stack the two pieces of dough on top of each other and roll tightly into a log from the short end. Cut the log into 12 evenly sized pieces.
Place one piece of pastry dough into each of the 12 cups of the muffin tin. Dip your thumb into cold water, then press down into the center of the dough and press outwards to form a small well. Repeat for all 12 cups. The top edge of the dough should extend just barely past the top of the muffin tin.
Fill each cup 3/4 of the way to the top with the custard filling.
Bake until the custard starts to caramelize and blister and the pastry crust turns golden brown, about 10–12 minutes.
Serve warm with powdered sugar and ground cinnamon sprinkled on top if desired.
No trip to Lisbon is complete without eating a pastéis de nata (or a few!). These Portuguese egg custard tarts are the perfect anytime-snack and really satisfy any sweet cravings you may have.
Initially produced in Belem, Lisbon, the origin of the pastel de nata is sacred and spiritual, known as the pastel de Belem. This delicacy was created before the 18th century by Catholic monks in the Jeronimos Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site today.
The Portuguese tarts rely more on egg yolks to impart richness, whereas a standard custard relies more heavily on milk or cream. Using that many egg yolks is what gives these little parcels their rich flavor and luscious texture.
Pastel de nata (Portuguese: [pɐʃˈtɛl dɨ ˈnatɐ]; pl. : pastéis de nata; Portuguese: [pɐʃˈtɐjʒ ðɨ-])) is a Portuguese egg custard tart pastry, optionally dusted with cinnamon.
A specialty all over Lisbon, pasteis de nata are the famous Portuguese egg tart pastries. They have a flaky crust with a custard filling and are best enjoyed topped with a dusting of powdered sugar & cinnamon!
Portuguese Custard tarts are available worldwide but to really try the best in the world (and there's very little debate about it once you try one), you need to pay a visit to Lisbon. The most famous place to buy them is Pastéis de Belém on Rue de Belém.
The egg tart (traditional Chinese: 蛋撻; simplified Chinese: 蛋挞; Cantonese Yale: daahn tāat; pinyin: dàntǎ) is a kind of custard tart found in Chinese cuisine, derived from the English custard tart and Portuguese pastel de nata. The dish consists of an outer pastry crust filled with egg custard.
They can be enjoyed warm or cold. If you've made a batch but don't want to eat them all they will freeze well. Just place a few in a tupperware box and freeze for up to 3 months. You probably won't need to though as they will all disappear pretty sharpish!
There are three types of custard: baked, stirred, and frozen. Baked custards include bread pudding, flan, and cheesecake, and are prepared by baking in an oven or water bath. Boiled Custards include beverages like eggnog. Puddings, creme anglaise (krem on-GLAYZ), and pastry cream are some examples of stirred custards.
Most commonly, the Portuguese will have something simple, like toast with butter, however, there are a few more bread selections to choose from. Croissant: either plain or with ham and cheese for a bit more sustenance. Toast: as mentioned, usually with butter. However, some people swap out butter for fruit jelly.
In Portugal, breakfast is called pequeno almoço, which means 'little lunch'. People tend to eat this before 9:00 in the morning. As its name suggests, it is indeed a small affair, often consisting of fresh bread with butter, ham, and cheese or jam. People also eat breakfast cereal mixed with milk or yogurt and fruit.
Pastel de Nata are the most famous Portuguese dessert. They are deliciously irresistible. The combination of blistered, caramelized custard and flaky golden brown puff pastry is a match made in heaven.
The first-ever version of Pastel de Nata was baked over 200 years ago. The Pastéis de Belém have been in operation since 1837, and it is believed that the first-ever version of this dessert was baked over 200 years ago in the very same spot by nuns at the nearby Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.
Perhaps the most famous Portuguese dessert, Pastel de Nata or Pastel de Belém is a custard tart pastry with a crisp, flaky crust and a creamy custard filling. This is a true icon when it comes to dishes to try in Portugal.
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