| Makes 40 pastries
The secrets to a crispy, flaky pastry is to make sure the butter is evenly layered, all excess flour is removed, and the dough is rolled very thin and folded neatly. You will need a thermometer to accurately gauge the custard. These are best eaten warm the day they’re made.
Note: Because home ovens can’t match the heat of those at the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém, where these treats were first made, your pasteis may not brown as much as those in the picture.–David Leite
Active time: 1 hour | Total time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Portuguese Pasteis de Nata Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 3/4 cup plus two tablespoons water
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, stirred until smooth
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups milk, divided
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 large egg yolks, whisked
- Powdered sugar
- Cinnamon
Directions
1. In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour, salt, and water until a soft, pillowy dough forms that cleans the side of the bowl, about 30 seconds.
2. Generously flour a work surface and pat the dough into a 6-inch square using a pastry scraper as a guide. Flour the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest for 15 minutes.
3. Roll the dough into an 18-inch square. As you work, use the scraper to lift the dough to make sure the underside isn’t sticking.
4. Brush excess flour off the top, trim any uneven edges, and using a small offset spatula dot and then spread the left two-thirds of the dough with a little less than one-third of the butter to within 1 inch of the edge.
5. Neatly fold over the unbuttered right third of the dough (using the pastry scraper to loosen it if it sticks), brush off any excess flour, then fold over the left third. Starting from the top, pat down the packet with your hand to release air bubbles, then pinch the edges closed. Brush off any excess flour.
6. Turn the dough packet 90 degrees to the left so the fold is facing you. Lift the packet and flour the work surface. Once again roll out to an 18-inch square, then dot and spread the left two-thirds of the dough with one-third of the butter, and fold the dough as in steps 4 and 5.
7. For the last rolling, turn the packet 90 degrees to the left and roll out the dough to an 18-by-21-inch rectangle, with the shorter side facing you. Spread the remaining butter over the entire surface.
8. Using the spatula as an aid, lift the edge closest to you and roll the dough away from you into a tight log, brushing the excess flour from the underside as you go. Trim the ends and cut the log in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or preferably overnight.
9. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and 1/4 cup of the milk until smooth. Set aside.
10. Bring the sugar, cinnamon, and water to a boil in a small saucepan and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 220°F (100°C). Do not stir.
11. Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, scald the remaining 1 cup milk. Whisk the hot milk into the flour mixture.
12. Remove the cinnamon stick then pour the sugar syrup in a thin stream into the hot milk-and-flour mixture, whisking briskly. Add the vanilla and stir for a minute until very warm but not hot. Whisk in the yolks, strain the mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside.
13. Heat the oven to 550°F (290°C). Remove a pastry log from the refrigerator and roll it back and forth on a lightly floured surface until it’s about an inch in diameter and 16 inches long. Cut it into scant 3/4-inch pieces. Place a piece cut-side down in each well of a nonstick 12-cup mini-muffin pan (2-by-5/8-inch size). Allow the dough pieces to soften several minutes until pliable.
14. Have a small cup of water nearby. Dip your thumbs into the water, then straight down into the middle of the dough spiral. Flatten it against the bottom of the cup to a thickness of about 1/8 inch, then smooth the dough up the sides and create a raised lip about 1/8 inch above the pan. The pastry sides should be thinner than the bottom.
15. Fill each cup 3/4 full with the slightly warm custard. Bake the pasteis until the edges of the dough are frilled and brown, about 8 to 9 minutes.
16. Remove from the oven and allow the pasteis to cool a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack and cool until just warm. Sprinkle the pasteis generously with powdered sugar, then cinnamon and serve. Repeat with the remaining pastry and custard. If you prefer, the components can be refrigerated up to three days. The pastry can be frozen up to three months.
- Fruit Custard Tarts from Christine’s Recipes
- Custard Apple Tart from My Baking Addiction
- Pear and Vanilla Cake with Custard from Leite’s Culinaria
- Portuguese Coconut-Custard Tarts from Leite’s Culinaria
Pasteis de nata recipe © 2004 David Leite. All rights reserved.
LC
on 
LC to your 
This recipe is the real deal and not too complicated. They taste exactly like the ones served up at the Lisboa Patisserie in Notting Hill, London. My only observation is that based on a standard sized muffin tin you’ll only get 24, otherwise great!
Hi Ivan, the recipe calls for mini-muffin tins. So if you used a standard size, I think you’d get about 20 or so. You’d also need to bake them longer, too,
I am super excited to try these. What changes would I need to make if I wanted to make the full size versions? I assume the filling recipe would remain the same but the size of the pastry log would have to be altered, as would the baking time. Would you be able to tell me what these changes would be?
Thank you so much for your time.
Hi, John. It really depends on what “full size” means. Will you be using the pastéis tins that they use in Portugal or a muffin tin? What I would do is cut a wider slice from the dough log. Press the slice in the tin/muffin tin as specified in the recipe. You want it to come all the way up the sides and extend beyond the top lip by 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch. Once you know how much dough you’ll need to do that, cut the remaining slices the same size. You’ll have to bake the pastries longer; again that has to do with how much larger your tins are. I would check every 2 minutes or so after the initial 8 minutes. They should be just cooked through; they’ll continue cooking as they cool. Hope this helps.
Thank you for the quick reply. I apologize for not being clear; however, I was referring to regular muffin tins. I would love to have the proper pastéis tins and will look for them in the near future. I will definitely experiment with the width of the pieces cut from the dough log and keep an eye on the time.
Time permitting, I’ll attempt to make these on the weekend and report back!
Hi John. With a regular muffin tin, you don’t want to go all the way up the sides, as it makes the pastéis too big. Go a little more than halfway up. Now, if your tin is nonstick, it will be hard to prevent it from sliding down as it bakes and the custard spilling out. As far a baking, I’d try 10 minutes and then check it.
Thanks again for the tips! Sorry, forgot to ask earlier…
When I roll out the pastry log, should it still remain an inch in diameter and 16 inches long or should it be slightly thicker than an inch (perhaps 1.25 inches) since the regular muffin tins have a wider base than the mini ones? Not sure if that makes any sense.
I am pretty much a beginner so please excuse what might seem like a dumb question but they actually sell muffin tins that don’t have the nonstick surface? I assumed they were all nonstick.
John, not a problem. All you need to do is cut the log in to wider slices. That will give you enough dough to work with.
Older muffin tins are no stick. The mini tins I use are nonstick, but the wells are so small, I can kind of anchor them to the rim.
My suggestion for success is to bake off 2 or 3 of them as a test. Then make any adjustment you need in the size of the slice and cooking time.
David, you have been a tremendous help. Thank you for your patience and taking the time to answer all my questions. I truly appreciate it.
John, my pleasure. Now march into that kitchen and bake away!
Hi David Leite,
By any chance is you book translated in to Portuguese?
I would love to have it.
Thank You
Mariana
Hi, Mariana, no the book is only in English at the moment. I don’t think they are plans to translate it.
Hi Ivan,
I can translate to Portuguese for you if you need. Just send material. I will love to cooperate. No charges at all.
Happy Thanksgiving
If that isn’t the Thanksgiving spirit, Simoneti, I don’t know what is. Many thanks…
Hi David,
I’ve loved these lil treasures from a few years ago when travelling in Portugal.
Thanks for this recipe I’ll be trying these out this weekend.
Cheers Carl
David I would like to make these for my niece’s bridal shower next week. I was hoping to make them today and freeze and remove them from the freezer the evening before he shower or the morning of. Is this possible with this type of pastry. I have too many last minute things to do the day of and the day before to make them then. The groom is portuguese and I know these are his favourite.
Hi, Grace. I think the custard and the pastry would suffer. What you can do is make the pastry and fill the tins. Cover those really, really well and freeze them. The day before, make the custard. then the day of you can simply ladle the custard in the pastry and bake them off. You might need a few extra minutes because everything is cold. I hope this helps, and give my best wishes to the happy couple!
Hi I have a copy of your new book which is so beautiful and I can’t wait to make some of the recipes. You were recommended by a baker in Derbyshire for your pasteis recipe. I haven’t had them since I moved from London where I used to get them at Lisboa. I am terrible at pastry but for these I will try…. anyway I am just about to have a go at your tarts and I realise it’s all in cups. I can convert butter easily but I always have difficulty being accurate converting flour to grams, would you be able to tell me what 1 cup of your all purpose flour weighs and then I can manage to convert the rest myself. Best wishes, Joanna
Joanna, best of luck with the pastéis! One cup of all-purpose flour weighs approximately 125 grams. Here’s a neat conversion table for all types of flours.
Hi Mr. Leite,
Thank you for your receipe of Portuguese Custard which I found yesterday. I could not wait too long to try it for my family, so I tried to make the dough about 20 minutes ago. I found something strange, and please help me. When I mixed the all-purpose flour with the water (as your recipe suggested), the dough was very sticky. Too much water I think. What can I do now? Thank you in advance.
Tom, thanks for writing. All of your math is correct, but you have discovered why so few cookbooks that are converted from U.S. amounts to metric or metric to U.S. amounts work. When I was living in Portugal, it was very hard to convert successfully because ingredients act differently, especially flour. I found that it either absorbed more or less water than my recipes made in the U.S.
So my suggestion is to add enough flour to make the dough just slightly tacky, but not sticky. The filling should be okay.
That’s really helpful David, thanks so much!
You got it!
My parents came to visit this week, and so I made your tarts thinking my father would like them. The expression on his face spoke volumes which he proceeded to tell my children…how his mother made custard pie in her cast iron skillet. She gave her cast iron skillet to me before she died because I loved to watch her cook in it, but I can’t imagine making the pie in it! She did not have many pans during the depression, so that may be the reason, but I was surprised by his story and wondered how I would keep my crust from sinking to the bottom, the sides are pretty straight. His mother was Spanish and married his father who was italian–so maybe his memories are off a little, he is 77, but I would love to make it for him. Do you think this would work, or should I just stick to the tarts? Either way, thank you for a wonderful dessert and stimulating great memories and family conversation.
Hello, Lori. For this recipe I would stick to the tarts. The dough is similar to a puff pastry and would most likely shrink back into the pan. There are many, many recipes for custard pies in cookbook and on the Internet. I’d do a little research, making sure the crust is a classic pie crust, not a puff pastry crust, and I think you might touch your father’s heart.
Thank you!
Thank you for your recipe. I just wonder when I baked the tarts, they were shrinking down and the custard spilling out. Are you able to tell me why?
Hi David! I was wondering where I could buy the special 1/3 cup forms to make these (I live in Australia so is there some place online I could order from? I have never seen them here). I have your book and I just love it. It is sometimes hard to get the ingredients here (i.e. salt cod) but it’s always worth it. :)
Hannah, there is a place called Tucha Gifts on Ferry St. in Newark, NJ. That’s where I get mine. I don’t know if they will ship to Australia. I have never found a place online that sells them.
David, Hello. Thank you for being so generous with your time to share all of these wonderful recipes with us. I’m Portuguese, but raised here in the US. Can I use phyllo dough for the crust?
Muito obrigado
Hi Catarina, you can use phyllo, but it won’t be the same. If you want to use a packaged product for the crust, buy a premium puff pastry.
Michael, that photo is of the Confeitaria de Belém’s famous tarts. It’s not as easy to get the spots on the tarts at home, because our ovens max out at 550°F. Their ovens are similar to pizza ovens, and reach a temperature of 800°F–or so they say.
I would try starting the tarts on the middle rack and then switching them to the very top position for the last several minutes of baking. The top of the oven is always the hottest. Some people turn on the broiler for a minute or so at the end of baking. But you have to be careful that the edges of the pastry don’t burn.
Thanks so much for posting this! I had tried a recipe that was a distillation of several videos I saw on YouTube. I did find something that tasted quite good but my problem was that by the time things were browning, the custard filling had boiled over and made a mess. Actually the first batch was looking good after around 9 or 10 minutes but the recipe said 20…yours is just what I suspected, very hot to brown the top and cook the dough before the filling gets too hot. (That and larger tins than the muffin pan I was forced to use.) This looks just right and makes perfect sense.
David,
I am so excited to try this recipe. I was born and raised in Newark, NJ. I grew up with these but have never made them myself.
Quick question for you, I have some puff pastry in the freezer still can I use this instead of making the dough from scratch?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Maria, you can use puff pastry from the freezer, but it has to prepared in a very different way or all the filling will spill as the pastry bubbles up. In my cookbook I have a recipe specifically designed for frozen puff pastry. If you don’t have it, pick it up or check it out of the libary. It’s the longest recipe in the book, but it’s worth it!
Hi David -
This recipe is fantastic. Thank you! After visiting Belem earlier this year and gorging on pastries, I’ve been trying to replicate them at home. First few recipes I tried, which called for puff pastry, were disappointing. I’ve made yours twice already and my pasteis were perfect both times. I was reluctant to try making my own dough, but it worked out so well, I may never go back to puff pastry for any tart. With credits to both you and Mr. Rosa, would it be okay to repost your recipe on my blog?
Kathleen,
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe and it worked out for you! I love this little gems.
Thanks for taking the time to post this recipe.
I have two questions:
1) Does the pastry cook sufficiently considering you are not blind baking, which is what i see many other recipes calling for?
2) You don’t clarify what happens with the cinnamon stick, you simply say:
Bring the sugar, cinnamon, and water to a boil in a small saucepan and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 220°F (100°C). Do not stir.
Pour the sugar syrup in a thin stream into the hot-milk-and-flour mixture, whisking briskly
Do you take out the cinnamon stick just before pouring syrup into milk/flour mixture. Can you use powdered cinnamon instead? If so, how much?
Thanks
Hi Charles,
1. Because the tart are mini–less than half the size of the original–the custard is sufficiently cooked.
2. Good catch. The cinnamon is removed before you pour the hot sugar syrup into the milk mixture. I’ve fixed it above.
I have never used anything but stick cinnamon (cassia), which can be used over and over again, so I can’t accurately tell you how much ground cinnamon to use. I’d start with a small amount, say 1/8 a teaspoon, and work up from there.
I hope this helps.
Wow I was just trying to describe the little Portuguese custards I had when i visited Hamburg in ’06 and then i saw a link to them and wound up here. These were so popular in Hamburg that the Portuguese family bakery had to open up 3 bakeries right next to each other just to try to keep up with demand. I can’t wait to make these at home. Thanks so much for the recipe.
Mark, I hope you enjoy them!
I’ve been looking for a good recipe like this for a long time!! One problem though, the custard I made was very runny–even when cooked. I triple checked the quantities, and Im still confused. Did I not cook the syrup long enough? Not sure.
Ashlee, the custard is indeed thin after adding the syrup and when putting it in the pasty shells, but it firms up in the oven. Was it runny after the pastries came out of the oven? Also, are you using the precise size molds specified in the recipe? A larger muffin tin, or even the tins from Portugal, are too big for this recipe.
Hello and I cant wait to try these!!! Now if I used puffed pasty would it be the same?? And can you make a video on the dough rolling!! Thank you…
Natalie
Natalie, commercial puff pastry won’t work for this method. If you want to use it, it’s best to cut a circle of the dough just slightly larger than the total diameter of the sides plus the bottom of the wells in your muffin tin. Prick the circles all over with a fork, fit them into the tins, then fill them with the custard.
As far as a video, that’s a great idea. Perhaps after the holidays.
Just wondering why you have to strain the mixture into a bowl after adding the egg yolks and do you use a regular strainer or cheese cloth? What are you straining or ‘removing’? I may have missed something. I want to try making these for my mom who is Portuguese. I am no baker and am nervous about the dough but will try and willing to try again until I get it right! Thank you!
Hi Cheryl. Don’t be nervous! Just have faith and plunge forward. You strain the mixture because sometimes if you adds the yolks and the mixture is too hot, you might end up with tiny bits of cooked eggs in the custard. This makes sure that even if you do, they’re strained out. Any fine strainer works well.
David: I tried your recipe for the first time this evening. It was a difficult recipe but I managed. I wanted to say that I am deeply pleased. My grandmother Ramona died twenty-five years ago and I did not have her recipe. I have tried many and this is the first time I tasted one like hers. It took my breath away. Thank you for giving me a piece of my past back to me. Just to let you know I topped mine with fresh blueberries and strawberries and crema. To die for!
Desiree, nothing makes me happier! To hear that you retrieved a bit of your past is exactly why I started writing about food, and initially Portuguese food. Unlike you, I could never find (and still haven’t found) recipes that comes close to some childhood favorites of my avó Costa.
I agree, the recipe isn’t a snap–but in the end you discovered what I did: it’s a small price to pay to have your grandmother back in the kitchen with you.
David, I was born and raised in the Ironbound section of Newark. Moved away about 18 years ago and really miss these little custard cups. Can’t wait to try your recipe. I still have family living in Neward so I’m going to pay them a visit and pick up the pastry tins. Thanks so much for your recipe. They also make a lemon version that I’ve had, have your ever made it and if so can you share that recipe as well.
Hi Sandi. If you go to Newark, visit Tucha Gifts–they have the tins. The original confeitaria only serves the plain custard, from what I remember. I do know you can get different flavors at Texeira’s bakery in Newark. Sorry, I don’t have a recipe for the lemon, but I think it would be a matter of just adding some lemon zest to the cooking custard, then straining it out.