Scrumptious...Pasteis de nata

A warm welcome to you, dear friends...♥

I hope you'll join me for a lovely cup of tea this morning...

and perhaps one or two of these scrumptious little tartlets...?

Ever since I first tasted these delightful Portuguese custard tarts, I have loved them...

The other morning I thought it would be a good idea to whip up something delicious for teatime

and then remembered I had a recipe for these lovelies somewhere...

What I love about Pasteis de nata is that they are not too sweet...

Perhaps I may be considered strange, but I do not have much of a sweet tooth and generally would choose a savoury treat over a sweet one...these are an exception...{{Smiles}}

 A little history about Pasteis de nata...

 

Pastéis de nata were created before the 18th century by Catholic monks at the Jerónimos Monastery in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém, in Lisbon, Portugal.

These monks were originally based in France and loved these pastries which could be found in local French bakeries. 

At the time, convents and monasteries used large quantities of egg-whites for starching of clothes, such as nuns' habits. 

It was quite common for monasteries and convents to use the leftover egg yolks to make cakes and pastries, resulting in the proliferation of sweet pastry recipes throughout the country.

Following the extinction of the religious orders and in the face of the impending closing of many of the convents and monasteries in the aftermath of the Liberal Revolution of 1820, the monks started selling pastéis de nata at a nearby sugar refinery to secure some revenue. 

In 1834 the monastery was closed and the recipe was sold to the sugar refinery, whose owners in 1837 opened the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém. 

The descendents own the business to this day^.

Since 1837, locals and visitors to Lisbon have visited the bakery to purchase fresh from the oven pastéis, sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

Source:  Wikipedia

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And now of course you would like the recipe...you will be surprised at how simple they are to make and how very delicious they are...

 

  Portuguese Custard Tarts

Recipe Courtesy:  Fresh Living Magazine, April 2013 

 Makes 12-16 Tartlets

1 roll puff pastry

1tsp castor sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Custard Filling:

2tbsp (30ml) cake flour

2 cups (500ml) fresh full cream milk

1/4 cup (60ml) cream

4 free-range egg yolks

1/4 cup (55g) brown sugar

Pinch salt

Zest of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp (5ml) vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 290 degrees Celsius.

Roll out pastry thinly and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Rightly roll pastry into a sausage and cut into 1cm rings.

Press each pastry round into base and up sides of each cup of a greased muffin pan.

Chill.

Filling:

Mix flour into a paste with a little milk and combine with remaining ingredients in a saucepan.

Stir over a gentle heat until custard thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Don't boil mixture.

Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve if need be.

Cool.

Pour filling into pastry lined muffin cups until 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden.

Remove tartlets from pan, cool and serve. 

 

Pasteis de nata are best eaten straight from the oven and served with either coffee or tea...hmmm... ♥

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We decided to have a mini tea party...everyday is a good day for tea party, wouldn't you agree?

And a tea time treat is a wonderful incentive for little ladies to complete their tasks diligently and cheerfully too...{{Smiles}}

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 Wishing you a happy new week, dear readers...

Do you have any special plans for the upcoming week?