🥧 Pastéis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)
Pastéis de nata are small Portuguese tarts with a crisp, flaky puff-pastry shell and a rich custard of milk, egg yolks and sugar. Baked in a very hot oven, the filling blisters and caramelises in dark spots on top. They are best eaten warm, dusted with cinnamon, alongside a short coffee.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry (about 300 g)
- 300 ml milk
- 6 egg yolks
- 150 g sugar
- 80 ml water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Ground cinnamon for dusting
Method
- Roll the pastry into a tight log, cut into 12 rounds and press each into a muffin tin cup, thin at the base and rising up the sides.
- Boil sugar, water and the cinnamon stick for 3 minutes to make a light syrup.
- Heat the milk until steaming, then whisk the syrup into it and remove the cinnamon stick.
- Let the mixture cool slightly and whisk in the egg yolks; strain.
- Fill the pastry cases three-quarters full and bake at 250–280 °C for 12–15 minutes until the tops are blistered.
- Cool briefly and dust with cinnamon.
How to make it lighter
- One tart weighs about 60–70 g, so enjoy one rather than a box with coffee.
- Share a larger batch: bake mini tarts in a mini-muffin tin for smaller portions.
- Skip the extra sugar sprinkle on top and use cinnamon alone for aroma.
History
The tarts are usually credited to monks of the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, Lisbon, who are said to have sold them after the religious orders were dissolved in the 1830s. A nearby bakery has made them since the mid-19th century, and today they are sold across Portugal and far beyond.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Pastéis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts) and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
Download on the App StoreSimilar dishes
Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →