Bread and Pastry

Portuguese Custard Tarts

 

Portuguese Custard Tarts – so good and so easy. No need to fiddle around making your own pastry dough. All you do is place two pieces of thawed puff pastry dough on top of each other, then roll into a tight cylinder …….

Then slice into small pieces ……

Roll each piece out into a small 4-inch circle, then bake in a muffin tin along with the custard. Word has it that these custard tarts were invented 200 years ago in a Portuguese monastery. I’d say they certainly had a good thing going ….

I’ll take two (or three) please!

 

 

Portuguese Custard Tarts

Print Recipe
Serves: 8 Cooking Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 sheets of puff pastry
  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • 400 ml milk (1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • powdered sugar (optional)

Instructions

1

Pre-heat oven to 400 F (200 C). If using frozen puff pastry sheets, remove two sheets from the freezer and let thaw. Lightly grease a 8-hole muffin tray.

2

Place the egg, two egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a saucepan and whisk until slightly fluffy. Place pan over medium heat and gradually whisk in the milk until the mixture thickens. If the eggs start to 'curdle,' briefly remove the pan from the heat as you continue to whisk. Remove pan from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer the custard to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool.

3

On a lightly-floured surface, place the two pieces of thawed puff pastry on top of each other and roll up into a tight cylinder. Slice into pieces about 1.5 inches wide, then roll out into circles about 4 inches wide. Press the pastry circles into the wells of the muffin tray and fill each well half-way up with the cooled custard. The custard will rise a little while they cook. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the custard is cooked and the tarts turn a golden brown. Let the tarts rest for a few minutes then remove from the pan. Dust with a little powdered sugar or serve with ice cream.

Notes

I used frozen puff pastry sheets that measured 10 inches square. This yielded 8 custard tarts. You can double the recipe if you want to increase the amount of your tarts.

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8 Comments

  • Reply
    John / Kitchen Riffs
    March 17, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    Golly, these look SO pretty! And tasty. 🙂 Fun dish, pretty straightforward to make. Works for me! Thanks.

  • Reply
    Mimi
    March 18, 2018 at 12:30 am

    Very nice! And simple? I’ll make them!

  • Reply
    Colleen
    March 18, 2018 at 4:20 pm

    Im going to make them but how about bought custard flor a real shortcut leave 27 may free for a bbcue invitation comiing later

    • Reply
      Fran Flint
      March 18, 2018 at 8:51 pm

      Colleen, yes, I think you could use store-bought custard for this recipe. If the custard doesn’t have any eggs in it, you will need to add several eggs. Sounds easy- just add a few eggs to the custard, pour it into the prepared puff pastry shell, and then “Bob’s your uncle!”

  • Reply
    Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop
    March 19, 2018 at 10:22 am

    So simple and so elegant. You are right, anything that’s been around for that many years has to still be around for a reason.

  • Reply
    Karen (Back Road Journal)
    March 21, 2018 at 11:29 pm

    Your little custard pastry sound terrific. I like little small bite desserts like this. BTW, I had no trouble being able to comment now, whatever the problem was is fixed now.

  • Reply
    David
    March 25, 2018 at 3:46 am

    I love the simplicity of this recipe! I plan to try it both with puff pastry and my simple cream cheese pastry. We are going to a Tapas party in May, and this would be perfect to bring along. I’ll report back!

  • Reply
    Raymund
    March 26, 2018 at 6:05 am

    This is so perfect with my cup of coffee right now

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