Pasteis De Nata (Egg Tart):

Equipment: Standard Muffin Tin, 12 Holes, lined

Recipe: Maked 12 individual pastries

For the dough:

For the filling:

Preparation instructions:

For the dough:

Below instructions are for manual kneading, but it’s totally ok to knead using the standing mixer.

1. Into a medium sized bowl, add the flour and salt and mix them together.
2. Add the cold water and knead only until a dough starts to form.
3. Add in the butter and knead for about 10 minutes, until you get a relatively smooth dough.
4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the filling.

For the filing:

1. In a small saucepan, mix together milk, heavy cream and sugar. Cook on medium heat while stirring until the sugar dissolved completely. Then, stop mixing and allow the mixture to simmer.
2. In parallel, in a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar.
3. Temper the eggs with the hot milk mixture- do this gradually, while whisking with each addition of the milk mixture.
4. Over a medium sized measuring cup with a spout, place a sieve. Strain the tempered eggs mixture through the sieve to get rid of cooked egg bits.
5. Whisk in the vanilla. Cover the measuring cup and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. In the meantime, proceed with the dough lamination.

Lamination and baking:

1. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, and roll it to a rectangle sized 32cm (l) x 18cm (w).
2. Evenly spread the lamination butter all over the dough.
3. Perform a 3-fold (business letter fold): Bring the top third of the dough towards the center, and fold the bottom third of the dough on top of it.
4. Roll the dough to a rectangle sized 32cm (l) x 18cm (w).
5. Perform a 4-fold (book fold): fold the upper quarter of the dough towards the center. Then fold the bottom quarter of the dough towards the center as well, so both parts are closer together. Then fold the top part on top of the bottom part to a book shape (see video demonstration).
6. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. During this time, the butter will set and the gluten will relax.
7. While the dough is resting, thoroughly grease the muffins pan with butter. You may keep in the refrigerator until assembly, to prevent the butter from melting.
8. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it to a rectangle sized 35 (l) x 24cm (w).
9. Trim the top and bottom edges (where commonly most of the non-laminated butter will be concentrated).
10. Roll the dough, width-wise, going up, to a tight log. Using your fingers, pinch and seam securely the dough to the edge. Cover the log with plastic wrap, and freeze for at least 15 minutes. The dough must be fully frozen before it can be cut into units.
11. Take the dough out the freezer, and using a very sharp knife, cut it into approximately 2cm thick units.
12. In order to stretch the dough units to a tartlet shape, first press with your thumb at the center. Then, using both thumbs and index fingers, “push” the edges towards the outside, very gently, while rotating the dough clockwise, in a manner which should form a pocket.
13. Once the pocket becomes large enough, you can place it in the greased pan, and ensure it is attached well to the sides and bottom of the hole of the muffin pan. Be careful not to tear the laminated dough during stretching, and do your best to work as quickly as possible, to prevent the butter from melting due to the heat of the fingers. Ensure the height of each tartlet reaches as high as the rim (as much as possible).
14. After all holes are lined with the dough, freeze the pan while you pre-heat your oven to 220C (fan mode off), placing a baking rack at the lowest part of the oven.
15. Once the oven has heated, take the filling out of the refrigerator, and stir it lightly with a spoon.
16. Pour the filling about 3/4 of the way of each tartlet. During baking, the dough will shrink while the filling puffs and expands, therefore it is recommended to avoid a situation where the filling escapes out of the pastry.
17. Carefully transfer the pan to the oven, and bake for 20 minutes. The dough will nicely brow, and the filling will be dotted with randomly placed black spots.
18. Unmold the pastries immediately after baking, to prevent them from becoming soggy due to the steam. You may use two forks to do that. I recommend waiting 30 minutes before serving.
19. The pastries are at their best the same day they are baked. Store refrigerated in an airtight container, 2-3 days (but let’s be real… they won’t last that long lol).