You may also like these spinach feta muffins, very easy to bake and super delicious!
And then he went and made it happen. A few months after this conversation, he actually brought some egg tarts from back home and I tried them. They were custardy, sweet, and true to his word, delicious.
I had no more excuses to not bake some Portuguese egg tarts and the best opportunity came up when a bunch of were going to visit Joao and Ruth’s baby, Luke.
Imagine baking Portuguese egg tarts for the first time for a Portuguese. Go ahead, imagine that. Jitterville!
I did it and I got a huge thumbs up from Joao. He even said a lot of people in Singapore would be willing to pay for these. Hmmm…
Portuguese Egg Custard Tarts
Adapted from Not Quite Nigella
Makes 12
Ingredients:
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar (I would use slightly lesser than this next time)
2 tbsp cornflour
400ml full cream milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 block of puff pastry sheet
How to Make Portuguese Egg Tarts
1. Grease a muffin tray and pre heat oven to 200C.
2. Place the egg yolks, sugar, and cornflour in a pan and whisk together until well combined. Slowly add in the milk and mix well with no lumps.
3. Place the pan over a medium heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and comes to the boil. Let it simmer for 2-3 mins, then remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.
4. Transfer the custard to a bowl, cover, and let it cool.
5. Thaw the puff pastry sheet and roll to about 1/2″ thickness on a floured surface. Roll it from the width-side tightly and cut into small discs. Roll each disc (flouring the surface sufficiently) to the rough size of the muffin tray.
6. Lay each rolled out disc into the muffin tray, pour the cooled custard to about 3/4 level and bake for about 25 mins.
The custard will bubble up during baking, don’t worry! The top of the egg tart should have brownish black patches for that authentic Portuguese egg tart look!
Sprinkle the egg tarts with cinnamon powder and serve warm.
These little guys were excellent. I received so many comments on them. Will be making them again!
Hi, you can make it more looking like Portuguese egg tart by using patty cake tin, don't use muffin tin because muffin tin won't make your puff pastry spring enough 🙂
Hi,
Did you use a puff pastry block or puff pastry sheet? The pastry part didn't turn out as flaky when i used the puff pastry sheet and rolled it up, etc, as per your instructions (which were very clear, thank you!). My aunt suggested that this is probably because puff pastry sheets were prepared to be immediately cut, while puff pastry BLOCKS are the ones that need the process illustrated above in order to give them layers.
Thank you.
yes you're right, these are the blocks and not the sheets. sorry for the confusion!
I love these–I've been to Lisbon twice and both times made sure to take a trip to the shop that is famous for these. I've never tried to make them on my own but I really should. Your photos are a great illustration of the process.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I tried these, and they turned out great!
Being new to baking however, I added cold milk instead of hot milk, and after following the recipe above and stirring on the stove, the custard didn't thicken. I then used a last ditch effort to salvage it and added some cornflour, more cornstarch, and finally instant custard powder. I think the powder saved it, because the mixture finally thickened. It tasted really good, but the next day the 'custard' part became very cakey. Do you have any tips for making the custard thicken?
Despite all this however, it still tasted delicious, so thanks for a great recipe! 🙂
Hi I just tried your recipe and it turned out brilliantly. Your simplified style of writing along with the well captured pictures make cooking an effortless task. Kudos!!!
Cynthia
Your recipe looks wonderful and I'm sure I would enjoy them. However, the recipe doesn't fix the eggs that were portrayed in the link I clicked. That photo looked like poached eggs over a flat bread of some type. Where is that recipe?
Hi there! I'm gonna attempt the egg tarts later, but I bought normal fresh milk instead of full cream milk. Is that gonna work?
yes that's totally gonna work. hope you like the Portuguese egg tarts 🙂
hi there i'm trying to figure out what the corn flour looks like. Is the colour white or yellow? Or is it the same thing as corn starch?
yes, same thing as corn starch.
Nags, can I use heavy whipping cream here, I have a small box in my fridge and want to use it up before it expires. Please suggest!!
Thanks,
Madhu
Hey Nags,
What happened to the Easy Rasmalai recipe, it doesn't seem to come up? Your recipes look good, I'm trying out the Paneer Chilli…
the easy rasamalai recipe is right here: https://www.cookingandme.com/2008/12/quick-and-easy-rasmalai-recipe.html
they were easy to bake and delicious to taste…:) great recipe!!
You make it sound easy to cook egg tarts! I'll just go to KFC and have my egg tart fix 🙂
Eggtarts :9 yuumm.. yumm..
I do love eggtarts~
thanks for sharing 😀
Is full cream milk the same thing as whole milk? Or is it more like using heavy whipping cream? Please do clarify as I'm excited to try these. My husband and I absolutely LOVE these and can't find anywhere in town that makes them. Thanks for posting this recipe!
yes i mean regular milk that hasn't been made low fat or skimmed. Good luck with baking up these portuguese egg tarts 🙂
Is full cream milk the same as whole milk? Or is more like heavy whipping cream? Please clarify as I definitely want to try making these since it's one of our favorite things to eat but don't have anywhere here that makes them. Thanks for posting this recipe!
Looks delish! I will try to bake some too =D
these look perfect!
Gerard, portuguese egg tarts do bubble up quite a bit when they are baking but once done, they should settle down more or less. was your still puffed up? maybe you poured too much custard into each cup? ideally, it should stay just over half-filled before baking.
i tried to bake these and it tastes great. But i am not sure why the custard puffed up and it doesnt look as flat and nice as your picture. Could you enlighten me, please?
Wow I've always wanted to try these but could never work up the courage you make it look easy.
Well, we don't have those pastry sheets in store here. So it would be nice to find out what kind of dough it is. So that I could try to make it myself. OR maybe someone has a recipe for it. Would appreciate
I'm Portuguese too, and I haven't had these in years! I'll have to give this a try. I'm not completely sure, but I think the original recipe from the Lisbon area uses Port wine instead of vanilla.
thank you for sharing….
I am Portuguese Asian born in America,
these are a favorite!!
tereza
These sound delicious! I adore custard tarts but my family doesn't, having said that I've never made my own custard only ever out of a packet from powder or store brought tarts. I'm giving this recipe a go…who could resist? they look soooo yummy! and I'm sure these will taste better than anything I've attempted before. Thanks heaps!!!
Pastel de Nata are yummy!!!
you can get them in all supermarkets. i bought puff pastry sheets from fairprice.
Hi, just to check with you, where can i buy here in SIngapore the pastry sheet since I don't know how to make them =) I'm planning to make this one for my hubby's birthday! thanks a lot! I'm learning a lot from your blog
I've tried making these before and they were a disaster so I'll perservere using your recipe. How brave to bake someone else's national dish for them!
These look fantastic! I am drooling all over my keyboard : P
I'll need to make these for my family! : ) I absolutely L.O.V.E your pictures, you're so good at photography!
These look incredible – I have been dying to go to proper Portuguese bakery for ages so this is a way of bringing the bakery to me rather than going to one! Will definitely make them this weekend! Thanks.
That looks absolutely amazing!
Sounds very similar to the egg custard tarts I make though I sprinkle the tops with nutmeg and cinnamon sugar. Yours look delish!
Looks yum n interesting ….
that's a great tip Orquídea. i'll try that the next time i bake portuguese egg tarts.
Yum!!! Congrats on being named a blog of note also. Nice accomplishment. Come on by if you have a minute – A Camp Host's Meanderings.
These are beautiful.. i wish i cud have a few right now…
This is new to me .. but the comments above tell me that this a perfect & yummy one…
That looks so good!
Never attempt to an egg tart till now,this is awesome…it comes out perfect!!!
I'm portuguese and I follow your blog for a very long time!
This is my favorite since I remember and I love to do different recipes also!
Next time try to sprinkle some cinnamon in the pastry before you roll it!
It will be amazing 😉
Nags, Mrs. B.F V has a good recipe for pastry in one of her books and comes as part of a beef tart recipe.
wowww… just superb Nags.. last snap is too tempting.. 😮
Love the whole thingy about food. thanks for making me drool missy!!!! ahahahha
Looks absolutely delicious!! Great that you perfected it at one go.
I loved these cakes, when I can prove it to bake, they are delicious. Congratulations.
Yes, Nags. My family members are either diabetic or likely candidates. Hence i hesitate to make sometimes though they seem so easy with your pictures. No probs..thank you for your prompt response. Appreciate it..
Looks very tempting…yummy that I am eager to taste one 🙂
I haven't tried these recipes with sugar-free. You mean dessert recipes for diabetic people right? Sorry, not sure of quantities 🙁
My husband is Portuguese too and i love love love these!!! im gonna definitely give this recipe a go! hopefully it comes out good enough to give to his parents .. lol .. jitterville indeed!! ;P
Luv it….Need these recipes with sugar-free. Please help.
Arch, I haven't tried making pastry sheets from scratch but that's a great idea for a recipe experiment. Will share recipe if I try to make pastry sheets at home 🙂
These look lovely Nags ! Have u made pastry sheets at home anytime ? If you do have a recipe for it, I would love to try it out…Thanks..
Wow. I just found your blog through blogs of note and this couldn't be more timely! Since going to Portugal years ago, I have been meaning to attempt these gems. As I now have access to good eggs from a farm, I had decided that this was the week for me to give this a try. Thanks for the recipe!