I've never been to Lisbon, but if I go, sampling a freshly baked Pastel de Nata will be top of my to-do list. These deliciously light egg custard tarts date back to the early 18th century, and have remained hugely popular across Portugal with the original shop selling over 20,000 pastéis de nata a day! After doing a Colombian empanada class and a Mexican taco class, I figured it was time to try something sweet, so I jumped at the chance to take part in an At-Home Pastel de Nata Baking Class.
The Zoom class was hosted by Inês live in Portugal, and at half six in the evening we were ready to go with our ingredients of flour, milk, margarine, sugar, lemon peel, cinnamon and six egg yolks - the fact I was able to separate six eggs without breaking a yolk filled me with confidence for the rest of the class! Inês started with a quick talk on the history of pastéis de nata, before getting us started making the puff pastry.
The instructions were easy to follow and despite the margarine trying to make a break for it, Inês kept a close eye on what we were doing and by the end of all the bashing, rolling, and folding, we had a neat rectangle of shiny puffy pastry. Next up was the custard, which involved melting sugar and water with a cinnamon stick and lemon peel, while whisking a béchamel in a separate saucepan. The two were then mixed together, and added to the six egg yolks giving a beautifully fragrant and satisfyingly yellow custard.
Finally, everything comes together in the muffin tray! Moulding the pastry into the cases is a skill that's been perfect over hundreds of years, but Inês had a few tips for us that made the technique more manageable, ensuring an even bake and a flaky finish. Once the custard was poured in the tarts went in the oven for fifteen minutes, and we were done!
I was really impressed by how Inês managed to make a somewhat complicated recipe seem incredibly simple (puff pastry is hard, okay?), and the results spoke for themselves. Huge thanks to Inês for a wonderfully entertaining evening, the twelve pastéis de nata we made won't last long in this household, that's for sure.
