Cook. @ Home - Portugese Egg Tarts

Just realised that Eat.Play.Shop. quietly turned one earlier on in December!  Time for a bit of a change,  so I've decided to launch a new part to the blog by starting some Cook. @ Home posts, to share the recipes of some of the stuff we've been whipping up here.  As the Little Ones are growing into Bigger Ones, cooking has become something that the kids all want to participate in, sometimes more successfully than others!  Their tastes in food have also become quite broad and varied.   It's pretty cool to watch them try to make and eat different foods, and learn to appreciate their discoveries!

For my first recipe I will post a recent favourite - The Portugese Tart.  I paid $4 for one at Market Lane Coffee the other day and it got me thinking about how difficult easy it will be to make these yummy and delightful little tarts, which are perfect for afternoon tea.  Research on the net yielded quite a few variations in cooking methods and I have taken these on board and added my own changes.  As most of you know I have a thermomix (love!) so the custard is prepared in the thermomix here, but there's no reason why it can't be made on a stove top with gentle heat and stirring.  I have never failed using this recipe (yet!) and it makes a big batch of 24 - because they are very more-ish and just disappear so quickly!


The recipe is inspired by Bill Granger's,  with thermomix adaptation inspired by Winosandfoodies.


Fail Safe (Thermomix) Portugese Egg Tarts (Pasteis de Nata)

2 sheets of puff pastry

6 egg yolks

150g caster sugar

2 tablespoons cornflour

250g double cream

330g milk

2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

1) Blend egg yolks, caster sugar and cornflour in the thermomix bowl at speed 4 for 5 seconds
2) Add cream and milk and cook at 80 C, speed 4 for 10 minutes
3) Add vanilla bean paste and whiz at speed 8 for 8 seconds
4) Pour mixture into a bowl to cool to room temperature, with glad wrap on the surface of the custard to stop a skin from forming
5) Turn oven on to 200 C (fan force) and grease 2 x 12 muffin tins
6) Place the 2 sheets of puff pastry on top of each other.  When thawed, cut this down the middle to form 2 rectangles.  Roll each rectangle up from the short end to short end to form 2 rolls and cut each into 12 rounds
7) Roll each round out on a floured surface and place into the muffin tins
8) When the custard has cooled it will set somewhat.  Spoon the mixture evenly into the 24 puff pastry cases and pop them into the oven for 20 minutes
9) Remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes.  Then pop the tarts on a wire rack to cool and eat them when they're just warm!

Egg, Caster Sugar and Corn Flour blended

Adding the vanilla bean paste after the custard is cooked

Waiting for the custard to cool

Cutting the Puff Pastry

Rolling out the rounds

Cases all done - Rustic is good!

Just out of the Oven

Cooling on the rack, and looking quite delicious I must say!

Tips - 

• you can pop the custard mixture into the fridge to cool if pressed for time
• the custard will rise and bubble quite high while in the oven and will collapse down to achieve the look you're used to once out of the oven
• I love vanilla so I use lots of vanilla bean paste, but you can substitute this with vanilla extract and reduce the quantity quite easily
• I am quite lazy with pastry making so I always use purchased puff pastry, but you can make your own, and if you have a thermomix there's a recipe for this in the Everyday Cookbook

Apart from enjoying eating these, the thrifty housewife part of me finds it quite satisfying that for under $10 of ingredients I've produced $96 worth of tarts with very little effort.  Enjoy!