Wed, 8 July 2026
Pastel de Natas originated from the 1800s from Lisbon in Portugal. The crisp flaky pastry is smothered in a rich egg custard. Placed in a scorching hot oven, the tops blister and create that gorgeous brûléed top which makes them so irresistible.
What you will need:
A small muffin tin
A roll of Filo or Puff pastry
For the Custard
1 cinnamon stick
Lemon peel from 1 whole lemon
480 ml whole milk
1 pinch of sea salt
115g white sugar
30g cornstarch
2 large eggs
60g unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
To make the custard
1. Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan.
2. Add the sea salt, the peel from the lemon and one cinnamon stick. Slowly bring to the boil, stirring frequently so that the milk does not burn.Once you see that the milk is starting to boil, remove from the heat immediately.
3. Remove the lemon peel and cinnamon stick from the milk.
4. In a small bowl whisk the sugar and cornstarch together.
5. When no lumps remain, whisk the eggs into the sugar and cornstarch.
6. When the milk is ready, pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the eggs and whisk.
7. Then pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk.
8. Place the saucepan back onto the heat and allow to boil, stirring constantly.
9. Continue stirring while the custard thickens, approx 1 or 2 mins.
10. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. In this time, you can prepare your pastry.
Pastry shells
1. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface.
2. Cut the pastry into small squares. 5cm x 5cm works well for my tin. If you have a larger tin you may want to measure and cut your pastry so that it will cover the inside of the muffin tin.
3. Grease your tin with a little butter and pop the pastry into the tin pushing the pastry around the edges.
4. Put the tin into the fridge for 30 mins to allow the pastry to cool.
Assembling the tarts
1. Once the custard has cooled and is warm and not hot, add the butter and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
2. Pour the custard into the pastry shells until they are 3/4 full.
3. Pop the tarts into the oven on a high heat - 220 degrees
4. Bake for ten minutes.
5. Allow the custard tarts to cool before thoroughly enjoying them.
Fri, 3 July 2026
Chef: Simon O’Connell
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