After not seeing my friend Victor for 36 years we met at Waterkloof for lunch. It was amazing to catch up face-to-face and to share our love of food. We spoke about Pasteis De Natas and so I made these for him.

Head straight on to the Recipe For Pasteis De Natas ♥
It amazes my how one company can have staff ranging from excellent to really bad. I was under the impression that my price lock plan for our satellite TV came to an end this month. But in December I received an SMS notification letting me know that January would be my last payment. From February I would be billed at the new rate. Our extra view PVR no longer records so I decided to take advantage of a new price lock contract. I was in no rush to get it done, but when I saw my mom’s complaint on Facebook regarding their bad service I sent DSTV a message. This was Monday morning and when they called in the afternoon I was unable to take the call. On Tuesday morning the most friendly lady called me back.
Today’s inspiration ♥ Recipe For Pasteis De Natas ♥ can be found on Lavender and Lime Share on X
She eagerly did everything necessary to approve the new contract. On Friday morning the new Explora decoder was delivered. On Saturday morning Dave plugged it in and as soon as the software was up-to-date I called to have the smart card activated. I got through to someone who would not listen. Who told me I had given DSTV the wrong information, and who was so unhelpful. After a lengthy discussion that tested my patience he told us to install the decoder. Clearly he had not been listening. When we got to the point of activating the device he put the phone on his desk and ignored us, leaving the line open. Eventually after 12 minutes I convinced Dave to call back. The lady who answered our call was brilliant and 14 minutes later we were watching TV, and enjoying these pasteis de natas.
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Pasteis De Natas
Ingredients
for the custard
- 375 mls milk
- 45 g flour
- Peel of 1 lemon
- 1 cinnamon quill
- 185 mls water
- 250 g fructose
- 7 egg yolks
for the pasteis de natas
- 1 400 g roll puff pastry
- Flour for dusting
Method
for the custard
- Pour the milk into a medium size saucepan and whisk in the flour
- Put the lemon peel and cinnamon quill into the milk and place on the stove on a medium temperature
- Whisk frequently until the milk starts to thicken then whisk continuously for 1 minute
- Take off the heat and set aside
- Pour the water into a small saucepan and add the fructose
- Place onto the stove on a low temperature and stir until the fructose dissolves
- Increase the temperature and bring to the boil until it reaches 106° Celsius
- Slowly pour the sugar syrup into the milk while whisking
- Leave to cool slightly then strain into a jug
- Place the egg yolks into a lipped jug and lightly whisk
- Slowly pour the milk mixture into the eggs while whisking
- Once combined cover with cling film and set aside to cool completely
for the pasteis de natas
- Unroll the puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface
- Roll into a tight sausage shape along the width, trim the edges then roll out to 18cm
- Cut into 12 equal discs of 1.5cm each and place into the fridge
- Lightly spray a muffin tin and take one of the discs out of the fridge
- Place the disc swirl side facing up and roll as thin as possible
- Place into one of the muffin tin holes with the pastry rising just above the tin
- Repeat until all 12 holes have pastry in them then place the muffin tin into the fridge for 20 minutes
- Preheat the oven to 220° Celsius
- Carefully pour the custard into the pastry cases, to just below the lip of the tin
- Bake for 25 minutes then remove from the oven
- Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before carefully removing the pasteis de natas
- Set aside to cool completely on a wire rack
Inspiration published on Lavender and Lime January 22:
-
- 2017 – The Kept Woman
- 2015 – Overnight Sourdough Bread
- 2014 – The Kingfisher Restaurant
- 2013 – Stellenbosch Wine Festival Give Away
Looks scrumptious as always Tandy, I can NEVER resist a good crust, no matter what diet I am on =)
me too!
yah! This is what I can say about unhelpful people, who’s job is to be helpful. I am in love with pastel de nata sincy my visit to Portugal, such a yummy treat.
these are very yummy 🙂
Lovely little tarts.
Have a great Tuesday.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thank you Mandy xx
Portuguese ! Fascinating. I’m not familiar with this cuisine. However, I’m unfortunately very familiar with being on the phone for hours trying to track down fraudulent charges and getting equipment activated. So frustrating!
That is very frustrating!
i love these!!! i’ve tried to make them multiple times with puff pastry, and the pastry always inevitably poofs up and shoves the custard out of the pastry and onto the pan, leaving empty-ish shells and burnt custard on my pan. how did you deal with that?
I think it is the way the pastry is rolled?
I love custard tarts and make them often. My recipe is quite different from yours. Perhaps I’ll give it a go! 🙂
And maybe I should try yours?
These sound like the egg tarts that my husband loved in China. They are really good so I might have to adapt these!
Let me know how they work out.
You are quite right about service being very varied depending on the person, Tandy. I think the service levels are generally getting lower and lower.
Service is becoming a lost art!
I love the addition of lemon peel to these. I make similar ones but this would give them a lovely edge.
The lemon is subtle but adds a lovely flavour 🙂