Pastéis de nata
pastéis de nata
Custard tarts in shatteringly thin pastry, blistered on top — Lisbon's bakery, not a bland egg tart.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: pastéis de nata.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 1 hr 45 min
- Difficulty
- A bit of work
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price

About
Pastéis de nata are puff or laminated pastry cups filled with a lemon-cinnamon custard, baked in a vicious oven so the tops scorch in spots. They are eaten warm, cinnamon and icing sugar. A pale, unblistered tart is underbaked.
Ingredients
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Simmer milk with lemon peel and cinnamon. Whisk yolks, sugar and flour, temper, cook until thick. Cool with paper on the surface.
15 minStep 2
Line greased muffin tins with thin pastry. Fill 3/4. Bake at 250°C or as hot as you dare, 12–15 minutes until the tops blister. Cinnamon sugar.
15 min
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 24 August.
Substitutions
Puff → Phyllo brushed with butter
More shatter, less flake.
Tips
- A domestic oven rarely hits bakery heat. Use the top shelf and do not open the door.
- Puff pastry is the honest home stand-in for lamination.
History & culture
Pasteis de Belém is the tourist line. Every good pastelaria has a version. Espresso.
Jerónimos monastery leftovers of egg yolks (whites went to starching habits). The bakery recipe is still guarded; this is a home cousin.
Modern adaptation
Provenance: Editorial adaptation. Original editorial adaptation for I Want Some Food. Not copied from another recipe site. Official recipe photography is pending. Photograph: Wiki Farazi via Openverse (cc0 1.0). https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=130946155
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