Lisbon: A love Affair with Custard: Taking a local Cooking Class

I’ll admit I was a bit nervous walking into my first attempt at making Pastel de natas; those dangerously addictive Portuguese custard tarts.  

 

Michael and I have eaten them about every single day since we came to Lisbon. We've even tried them at Pasteis de Belem, the legendary bakery which claims to have the original secret recipe, but I’ve never tried my unskilled hand at crafting their intricate layers.

Until this morning, when I stood ready with about ten other newbie bakers. 

 

Luckily, the chipper instructors at the cooking class reassured us that we’d all be custard experts in no time.

Martha and her colleague demonstrated how they carefully stretched the dough, explaining that it should be made so thin that you would be able to read a newspaper through it. 

Soon I was elbow-deep in flour, attempting to coax my dough into ultra-thin plates, possible using a few choice words.

I glanced at the classmate standing just to the right of me, and his pastry looked absolutely Instagram-worthy. I was so envious. 

But when I chatted with him, I learned he was actually a professional patissier with his own pastry business in France, just here to learn the secrets of the Portuguese tarts. Well, there was no need to compare my newbie skills with his experienced routines!

I glanced towards the other tables, where amateurs just like me did their best. All of us got an A for effort. When our rolling was done and the dough was placed inside the metal moulds, we all looked up, ready for the next phase: precision-filling the moulds with just the right amount of egg custard. Too much, and you’ll end up with a pastry flood in the whole oven. Too little, and you’ve got a dry tart no one wants to eat.

My custard reservoir repair skills were soon put to the test as I made my quota of tarts. Into the oven they went, and the entire kitchen began to be filled with the heavenly aroma of butter and caramelized sugar. 

After about ten minutes, they came out sizzling hot and crusty, and the excitement in the room was palpable.

Now came the true test: taking that first bite of my very own pastel de nata! As the crispy crust crackled, giving way to the silky custard, I was smitten all over again. That velvety texture and the rich cinnamon notes, it was pure baking magic.

When the class ended, I left with a big bagful of my pastries. But more importantly, I left with happy memories of a morning spent learning a new skill, meeting lovely people, and appreciating the rewards of patience and care. 

They were fleeting yet unforgettable. Happily, Michael agreed when I came home with his share. They were still hot and crispy.

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Pastel de nata (or Pastel de Belem, as they are called as well):

Here is the recipe for 8 tarts as it was taught at the class:

Custard:

2 egg yolks

250 ml of whipping cream - 35% fat

90 gr of sugar

one tea spoon of flour

A narrow slice of lemon peel ,- ca 5 cm long

A stick of cinnamon (ca 5 cm) - crushed

1 tea spoon Vanilla extract (optional)

 

Dough (you can also use 300 gr of ready made puff pastry):

150 g all-purpose flour (plus more for generously flouring hands, surface, and dough)

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

150 g unsalted butter, very cold and cubed

8 pastel de nata moulds 

Start with measuring the ingredients of the custard, mix the flour, sugar and vanilla and most of the cinnamon - and add cream and egg yokes.

Stir til even consistency.

Let it rest while the pastry is being made.

Butter, sugar and flour, mixed with a bit of water, are being kneased together for about 10 minutes. Then left to cool for 45 minutes.

This is repeated for 3-4 times (the resting times for the dough are necessary for the glutenizing to develop as needed)

The dough is then thinned, beaten and finally made into a nice square that fits 2/3 rd of the oven plate. 

While the dough is now resting the custard is warmed up with the slice of lemon peel.

 You heat it at a medium temperature and keep a good eye on it, as it must not boil.

When small steam clouds starts to form you remove the lemon peel and take the custard off the heat and leave it for 15 minutes.

The puff pastry is rolled, you have to spread a little water over the pastry to glue the roll together. After yet another rest period, the pastry is cut into slices 2 cm thick and 5 cm wide and placed into each metal mould.

Here the pastry is  pressed in the middle to spread it up the sides of the mould and it is  nicely finished with a knife afterwards.

The custard is put in, filling the mould until a couple of millimeters below  the brim.

The filled moulds are dusted with a bit of cinnamon and placed in the middle rack of the oven, which is running at highest temperature

After about 5 minutes, the oven plate is turned so all surfaces of the pastry are evenly cooked.

After about 10 minutes, when  the pastels have a brownish color, they are ready and can be taken out of the oven to cool off a bit before being served.

Enjoy!

Recipe:  Compradre cooking school

 

Pro Tip from the class: Authentic tarts require those specific individual metal moulds. The metal-to-dough contact is what creates the hyper-crispy, signature charred bottom without burning the custard! 

 

We bought a stack of moulds the next day!