Pastel de nata, a Portuguese dessert that is impossible to resist. An ancient recipe, but so good that it has remained unchanged over the years. A puff pastry base and a rich cream, all baked in the oven. Served as an end-of-meal dessert, but I assure you that you won’t be able to resist any time of the day. They bake in the aluminum muffin molds that you can easily find at the supermarket, but silicone ones work just as well, just make sure to grease them well to release them after baking without breaking them or make sure they are non-stick. The pastel de nata is easy to make if we buy ready-made puff pastry, but if you want to make it here is the recipe. If you like creamy desserts, try the lemon cream tart or the aunt’s double cream dessert. Try the creamy dessert with Nutella or the cream and panna with strawberries dessert. If you’re super fond of sweets, try the coffee cream and Nutella cup or the diplomatic cream with pistachio.
Let’s get to work and prepare the pastel de nata together.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 8 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Portuguese
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for preparing pastel de nata
- 1 sheet Puff Pastry
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1 2/3 cups Milk
- 6 Egg Yolks
- 1/3 cup whipping cream
- 7 tbsps cornstarch
- 1 lemon peel
- 1 pinch of cinnamon
- 2 tbsps powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Tools
This post contains affiliate links
- Saucepan
- Muffin Molds
Preparation of pastel de nata
Start by preparing the cream. Heat the whole milk with the cream and the organic lemon peel. Separately, beat the yolks with the sugar. Add the cornstarch, vanilla, and cinnamon and mix until you get a cream.
Pour the filtered milk and cream into the mixture and, stirring constantly, cook until the cream thickens. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let cool.
Cut out discs of puff pastry. Butter the muffin molds if they are not non-stick and line them with the pastry discs. Prick the bottom with a fork. Fill the pastry shells with the cream. Preheat the conventional oven to 356°F, bake, and cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Serve either warm or cold with powdered sugar!
Storage
You can store the pastel de nata for two to three days under a glass dome.
