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a square white plate on a blue and white napkin with four Portugese Custard Tarts on it
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5 from 7 votes

Portuguese Style Custard Tarts

A combi steam oven makes these tarts incredibly flaky on the outside and super creamy and silky on the inside. It's a winning combination.
Prep Time35 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
chilling time1 hour
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes
Course: Afternoon Tea, Dessert, Morning Tea
Cuisine: Portuguese
Keyword: custard tarts, portuguese style custard tarts, steam oven custard tarts
Servings: 12
Calories: 296kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs or 2 yolks and one whole egg; for a very rich custard use 4 yolks
  • 1/3 cup superfine sugar 80g caster sugar, plus a couple of extra tablespoons for the pastry
  • 1 ½ tbs cornflour
  • 1 ½ cups whole milk 375ml I'm sure reduced fat would work but the tarts won't be as creamy
  • ¼ cup pouring cream 60ml
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
  • 2 sheets frozen puff pastry each about 12"/30cm square; I used supermarket puff and it was just fine
  • 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

  • Lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin with oil spray or melted butter (mine is a regular sized muffin tin, each hole has 1/3 cup capacity).
  • Get your pastry out of the freezer and put it on the bench to defrost while you make the custard.
  • Whisk together the eggs, sugar and cornflour in a saucepan (off the heat) until smooth. Gradually whisk in the milk, cream and vanilla – if you dump it all in at once you’ll have lumpy custard. No-one wants that.
  • Place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, until it thickens and comes almost to a simmer (don't let it boil or the eggs will curdle). It doesn’t need to be really thick as it’ll cook more in the oven. If it coats the back of a spoon without running straight off, you’re probably good.
  • Pour the custard into a bowl and cover directly over the top with cling film. Make sure the film is touching the top of the custard as this will stop a skin forming. Place in the fridge for about an hour to cool.
  • Now for the pastry. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of extra sugar and half of the cinnamon over one sheet of pastry (you could combine them first but I just roughly scattered each of them individually). Put the other piece of pastry on top and gently squash them together with a rolling pin. Sprinkle another tablespoon of sugar and the remaining cinnamon over the top, then roll the pastry tightly into a log and put in the fridge to chill until you’re ready to cook the tarts (or until the custard is cool). You can skip the chilling here, but it makes the next step easier, and if you’re cooling the custard anyway then why not.
  • When you’re ready to cook, set your oven to 400⁰F/200⁰C, combi steam. If your oven has variable steam settings, use 50-60% steam. If not, don't worry! Just set to combi steam at the correct temperature and the oven will figure out the humidity for you.
  • Cut the pastry into 12 even scrolls. Place one, cut side up on the bench and use the heel of your hand to flatten it into a disc which will fit your muffin tin – don’t worry about all your swirls being evenly squashed, the unevenness is part of the appeal.
  • Repeat with the other pieces of pastry, then put them into the prepared muffin pan and pour the custard evenly between the pastry cases. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden, and the custard is lightly browned on top. During cooking the tarts will puff quite dramatically, then they'll sink and settle after you remove them from the oven.
  • Transfer the tarts to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes, then turn out and eat warm or at room temperature.

Notes

  1. These tarts are adapted, barely, from this recipe by Anneka Manning
  2. I found there was a little bit of custard left over, but not enough to reduce the recipe quantity. If you squash your pastry out a little flatter than I did you may find you can make deeper tarts and use up the full amount of custard.
  3. Don’t be tempted to cool the tarts fully in the pan as you’ll probably find they’re well and truly glued in by the time you want to eat them!
  4. I really liked this method for sweetening and adding spice to the pastry, but if I were running short on time I'd be happy to just cut out circles from unadulterated pre-rolled puff pastry and forget the extra step.
  5. These are best eaten on the day you make them, but can be gently reheated in a dry oven if you have a few left over the next day.

Nutrition

Calories: 296kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 127mg | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 139IU | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg