Small Portuguese custard tarts with a silky cream filling, encased in crispy, deeply caramelized puff pastry. Serve warm, with mottled tops just like in Lisbon.
Ingredients
- 250 g all-butter puff pastry
- 250 ml whole milk
- 160 g granulated sugar
- 75 ml water
- 4 pieces egg yolks
- 20 g Type 45 all-purpose flour
- 0.5 pieces unwaxed lemon
- 1 piece cinnamon stick
- 10 g unsalted butter
- to taste ground cinnamon
- to taste powdered sugar
Method
- Lightly butter a muffin tin or small metal tart molds, then chill them while you prepare the rest so the dough sets better during baking.
- Roll the puff pastry into a tight log, cut into slices, and press each piece into the molds with wet thumbs to form a shell that is thin in the center and thicker at the edges; the dough must reach all the way up to the rim.
- Heat the sugar, water, lemon zest peeled in wide strips, and cinnamon stick until you have a clear, fragrant, and slightly syrupy liquid, then let cool slightly off the heat.
- Whisk the flour with a little cold milk until no lumps remain, heat the rest of the milk, and gradually pour it over this mixture while whisking until you get a smooth cream that thickens like a light béchamel.
- Remove the lemon and cinnamon from the syrup, then whisk the warm syrup into the milk cream; the mixture should become shiny and fluid.
- Add the egg yolks off the heat, whisking gently without making it frothy, then strain the custard to get a perfectly smooth texture.
- Fill the pastry shells almost to the brim, then bake in a very hot oven until the pastry is deep golden, the custard puffs up, and the surface bears dark brown spots.
- Let cool for a few moments in the molds, gently unmold, and serve while still warm with a dusting of ground cinnamon and powdered sugar to taste.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 548.6 kcal
- Protein
- 12.67 g
- Carbohydrate
- 74.56 g
- Fat
- 22.39 g
- Fibre
- 2.13 g
- Calcium
- 83.91 mg
- Iron
- 0.33 mg
- Magnesium
- 11.96 mg
