A NECESSARY PREFACE …I’ve never eaten these little pastries the pasteles de Belem or pastel de nata, I’ve never even seen them except in photos on various blogs or generic images we all find on the web!!!!!!!!
But I wanted to try making them in my kitchen and so today I’m publishing them after tasting them with Andrea at dinner last night!
These are easy pastries to make using ready-made puff pastry. I must say I chose the wrong tins, which should have a wider base and be shorter in height because I used a multi-muffin tray…
These are the molds for this type of pastry → 
I made the custard the day before and it stayed creamy — just perfect for filling the puff pastry shells.
I dusted very little powdered sugar on top of the pasteles de Belem because the “house gastronome” hates any kind of sugar (even the crumble on a bundt cake), so I spared him some fuss at the table! I hope you can understand…
The pasteles de Belem or pastel de nata are Portuguese little tarts that can be dusted before tasting not only with powdered sugar but also with ground cinnamon… your choice, ciao!
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On the theme QUICK PASTRIES WITH PUFF PASTRY I’ll leave you some other preparations just below:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 35 Minutes
- Portions: 24 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Portuguese
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2 packages puff pastry
- 2 1/8 cups milk
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 6 egg yolks
- 3/8 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 1 slice lemon peel
- as needed butter (to grease the molds)
Tools
- Tegs
- Spatulas
- Spoons
- Plastic wrap
FOR PREPARING PASTEIS DE BELEM
Over low heat, warm the milk with the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel — use only the yellow part, avoiding the white pith which is bitter.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, add the flour, and when the milk is hot, pour it over the mixture, removing the added aromatics (lemon and cinnamon) first.
Return the mixture to medium-low heat and, stirring constantly with an appropriate spatula, allow the custard to thicken.
Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface and let it cool completely.
If you have time, it is advisable to prepare the custard the day before!
Now let’s prepare the puff pastry shells: after greasing each tin, roll the puff pastry from the long side.
Then cut slices of about 3.5 cm (about 1 3/8 in) and place each disc into the greased cavity, gently stretching the pastry with a light pressure of your fingers starting from the center of the mold.
The puff pastry does not need to rise high on the edges — it shouldn’t be very tall!
Once the puff pastry is in each mold, fill them with the now-cold and well-set custard, filling to about halfway up the tartlet. That’s what the Spanish blog I took the recipe from suggests — personally, as you can see, I think I may have overfilled mine!
Bake at 392–428°F (200–220°C) for about 20 minutes, bearing in mind the surface should be well toasted and nicely browned before removing from the oven.
When the pasteles de Belem or pastel de nata are cooked, let them cool — preferably on a wire rack — then dust with powdered sugar and a pinch of cinnamon and… dive right in!
They are delicious — a real treat!
Have a great day…. Annalisa
I’ll leave the collection of Spanish recipes that I published on the blog while I collect those from Portugal!
SOURCE here
I remind you that at the top, where you see the blog menu, there is a magnifying glass 🔎 that allows you to enter an ingredient or the title of a recipe to find all preparations that include that title or ingredient. I hope among them you will find recipes you enjoy!
