I’ve always loves these custard tarts ever since they were huuuge years back and I suppose still are. I came across a recipe by Bill Granger via a friend and it seems pretty true to actual Portuguese custard tarts which pleases me no end. These are my finicky fat phobic Father’s steadfast favourite. In fact, I give him a dozen for his birthday, Father’s Day and Christmas and he absolutely refuses to share them with my mother so I should probably make some extra for her.
I halve the pastry amount that Bill puts in his recipe in an effort to make them more healthy. This may sound delusional but I’ve calculated that if you make it with skim milk or a half skim/half full fat milk it still tastes absolutely delicious and they’re about 120 cals each which is something of a miracle. In fact I’ve never made these with cream as the recipe says which I’m sure is heavenly but milk is great as the egg count thickens it considerably.
Portuguese tarts
Servings: Makes 12
Level of difficulty: Intermediate
Preparation Time: 25 minutes, plus cooling time and 5 minutes standing
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks (I prefer 2 egg yolks and 1 whole egg)
- 115g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 230ml Cream (I don’t use cream, I use milk)
- 170ml Milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (I use Queen Vanilla Bean Paste)
- 300g rolled puff pastry (I use one sheet of puff pastry)
Method
1. Lightly grease a 12-hole 80ml muffin tray.
2. Put the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a pan and whisk together. Gradually whisk in the cream and milk until smooth.
3. 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 extract. Transfer the custard to a bowl, cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin forming and leave to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 200C.
5. 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.
6. 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.
14 Comments | Add your own
These tarts look delish! I must to try make these sometime
I first made these ages ago when you first mentioned them and became quite addicted! I really must make some again soon - i feel another period of addiction coming on!
daddy can be selfish sometimes!
gorgeous. i like the blue ribbon touch
Hi Kathy-Thanks! They’re definitely worth the effort. If you want to make them super fresh or ahead of time, you can always do the custard first and pop that in the fridge a day or two before and just do the pastry on the day
Hi Nic-Yes if I recall correctly you followed the recipe more faithfully than me, I can’t help but meddle I’m afraid
Hi blythe-he sure can be but only really with his tarts and random foods!
Hi Tian-thanks! I love adding ribbon to a gift, it makes it look so much more special. And I love collecting cute/unusual ribbon too
I had a go at making these and they were fantastic! I was curious about how to prepare the pastry using the full quantity?
Hi Pat-that’s great! Everyone that has tried this recipe ends up loving them. I think that if you used the full quantity of pastry then you would just sit all four half sheets on top of each other and then roll them. It might be quite thick and hard to roll into a symmetrical log so perhaps when its softer it may be easier to manipulate but since pastry cooks well when its cold, after moudling into a log and slicing then pop it in the fridge for half an hour? Good luck!
I also love to make Portuguese tarts and follow Bill Granger’s recipe, however the last few batches seem to have turned out quite oily ie oil swimming on top of the custard. The only thing I think I am doing differently is maybe using a bit more cream in the custard. Could that result in an oily mixture? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Kate-I haven’t really encountered that with the oil floating on top as I don’t use cream in them at all but I think that sometimes custard gets a layer of oil on top if there is too much butter used and cream is like butter so perhaps that is it?
I made these sometime ago, but lost the recipe.
I like your personal adjustments and meddling is fun (only when it works). However I do cut the pastry differently. When I first made these I found that pastry has be placed in one piece in each of the cupcake tin so I found a suitable round utensil, place it on pastry and cut around it. Once done, I cut a slit half way in the circle, then place in the cupcake tin. The slits help the pastry sit nicely in the container.
Hi Rozanne-Yes I love meddling and tinkering too. Ahhh ok, yes I can see how that would produce a more even, professional looking pastry. Mine is a little errrm rustic
I made these with some lime juice and zest for Christmas and they were a refreshing alternative!
Hi, I was buying these from a little old portuguese lady but found our addiction was too expensive to keep buying - hence I found your recipe BUT my pastry doesn’t stay nice and crisp - it goes all soft after a very short time even in an airtight container after cooling - what am I doing wrong?
Hi Ann-It is an expensive addition if you’re buying them from the store indeed! I wonder if a paper bag instead of an airtight container would help absorb some of the moisture? Also I think puff pastry with some sugar in it crisps up a bit more due to the sugar syrup but I’m guessing there. Or even try keeping one of those moisture sachets, not touching any of the food, in the container would help absorb the moisture?
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[...] my father will voluntarily eat without the added persuasion of guilt is these particular nuts and Portuguese custard tarts. Indeed, I gave him a huge jar of these for his birthday and he happily polished them off in no [...]
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