Portuguese Tarts

There are some things in this world that make me cave in. Things like caramel coloured pups, shiny patent black ankle boots, macadamia oil and good dark chocolate. My new drawing of a giraffe (!) and a nice clean doona cover, $10 penguin classics, baby eggplants and a red wine on the terrace with the heater on. Pens that make my handwriting seem neat, pink nailpolish, liquid eyeliner and custard. Not necessarily in that order.


Custard is the one item on the list that I want to talk to you about today (EDIT: one quick side note about me new ankle boots, YUM!!). Portuguese custard tarts are something that I find nearly impossible to stand up to. If Amy and I are out to coffee and we spy these babies behind the glass case... they won't be there for long. I always try to resist them because the last thing I want is to grow sick of them, but Amy is pretty persuasive. She asked me to make them and I said yes before she could even finish the word Portuguese.


A rather interesting recipe courtesy of Bill Granger via Not Quite Nigella. The assembly of the pastry cups is a bit odd and I have never come across a similar method when making pastry cases, but clearly there is a mastermind behind Bill's madness because wow were they crispy. If there were ever a recipe to make store bought puff pastry more puffy, he has found it.


There is absolutely NO excuse for this tart to be sad. Maybe it's because we ate two in a row and he knew he was next. Unfortunately I don't know, I don't speak Portuguese.

Portuguese Tarts:
Adapted from Bill Granger via Not Quite Nigella

3 egg yolks
0.5 cup (115g) caster sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
230ml cream
170ml Milk
2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste (or vanilla extract)
1 sheet store bought puff pastry
cinnamon, to dust

Lightly grease a 12-hole 80ml muffin tray.

Put the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a pan and whisk together. Gradually whisk in the cream and milk until smooth.

Place the pan over a medium heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla paste. Transfer the custard to a bowl, cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin forming and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Cut the pastry dough sheet in half, put one half on top of the other and set aside for 5 minutes. Roll up the pastry tightly from the short end and cut the pastry log into 12 x 1cm rounds. Lay each pastry round on a lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll out until each is 10cm in diameter.

Press the pastry rounds into the muffin tin. Spoon the cooled custard into the pastry cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry and custard are golden. Leave the tarts in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust the tops with cinnamon before serving.