Portuguese Tarts

Before I met my husband I had never eaten a Portuguese Tart.  There is a woman at our local farmers market who sells different pastries, including these little beauties and he brought one home for me to try.  Needless to say I absolutely loved it.

Jamie Oliver has a recipe for Quick Portuguese Tarts in his 30 Minute Meals cook book which we have made a couple of time that uses créme fraîche rather than making a custard and the hubby and I have made those a couple of times as they’re quite delicious.  After a recent order of my Oreo Cookies and Cream Cupcakes, I had some leftover egg yolks so I thought I would make a more traditional Portuguese Tarts using a recipe from Bill Grainger.

In addition to the egg yolks you will need caster sugar, cornflour, cream, milk, vanilla extract (or paste) and puff pastry.

Into a saucepan, place the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour and mix until you have a smooth paste.

I slightly altered the amount of cream and milk from the original recipe as cream comes in 300ml cartons and I didn’t want the leftover 70ml to go to waste so increased the amount of cream and decreased the milk.  You now need to gradually whisk in the milk and cream into your egg yolk mixture until thoroughly combined and smooth.

Put the pan over a medium heat and cook the custard until it thickens and comes to the boil while stirring constantly.  Now mine got a little bit burnt around the edge, but I caught it before it started to alter the flavour so still managed to use it.  It looked lumpy, but it wasn’t, and I pushed it through a sieve to ensure that none of the burned bits made their way into the tarts.

Once the mixture has boiled, remove it from the stove and stir in the vanilla extract.  I used vanilla paste because I love the look of vanilla seeds scattered through anything.  Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and place some cling wrap over the surface and allow to cool.

Onto the tart shells.  For years I have been wanting to try Carême All Butter Puff Pastry but for whatever reason have not got around to it.  When the hubby, my friend B and I went to the Good Food and Wine Show this year Carême had a stall with one of their sheets of puff pastry cooked and on display.  It was a few inches thick with a billion layers and it looked amazing!  So I really knew then that I needed to try this stuff.  I tracked some down at a local cafe and left it out for an hour so it could thaw.

The original recipe calls for 300g of puff pastry and the sheet from Carême is 375g.  I used all of it and you might find the weight varies depending on the brand you use.  Roll the thawed sheet into a log and then cut 12 pieces from it.  I cut it in half, then in half again, and then each section in thirds to try and get them as even as possible.

With a small rolling pin, place a piece of the pastry cut side up and roll until you have a circle at least 10cm in diameter.

Press the pastry disk into the muffin tin, taking care not to tear the corners at the base when pressing down.  You can lightly grease your muffin tin, which I did, but with this pastry in particular you probably need not worry as the butter from between each layer of “puff” would stop it from sticking to the tin.

Spoon the cooled custard mixture into each case, or if you are OCD like me you can use an ice cream scoop, and put the tray in the preheated 190°C oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry and custard are nice and golden and you have those distinctive caramelised marks on the custard.

Mine didn’t quite get that normal look that you see with Portuguese Tarts, maybe because I almost burned the custard, or due the change of cream to milk or maybe it just wasn’t my day.  But they definitely tasted like Portuguese Tarts that’s for sure.

Print Recipe

Portuguese Tarts

Adaped from Bill Grainger's recipe

Course

Sweet Tart

Cook Time

25 minutes

Servings

tarts

Ingredients

• 3 egg yolk(s)
• 115 g caster sugar
• 2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
• 230 ml cream
• 170 ml milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract or paste
• 300 g rolled puff pastry

Course Sweet Tart Cook Time 25 minutes Servings tarts Ingredients 3 egg yolk(s) 115 g caster sugar 2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch 230 ml cream 170 ml milk 2 tsp vanilla extract or paste 300 g rolled puff pastry

Instructions

1. Into a saucepan, place the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour and mix until you have a smooth paste.
2. Gradually whisk in the milk and cream into your egg yolk mixture until thoroughly combined and smooth.
3. Put the pan over a medium heat and cook the custard until it thickens and comes to the boil while stirring constantly.
4. Once the mixture has boiled, remove it from the stove and stir in the vanilla extract or paste.
5. Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and place some cling wrap over the surface and allow to cool completely.
6. Lightly grease a 12 hole muffin tin and preheat the oven to 190°C.
7. Thaw your sheet of puff pastry (if necessary) and roll the sheet into a log. Cut 12 pieces from the log cutting it in half, in half again, and then each section in thirds.
8. With a small rolling pin, place a piece of the pastry cut side up and roll until you have a circle at least 10cm in diameter.
9. Press the pastry disk into the muffin tin, taking care not to tear the corners at the base when pressing down.
10. Spoon the cooled custard mixture into each case, or use an ice cream scoop, and put the tray in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry and custard are nice and golden and you have those distinctive caramelised marks on the custard.
11. Leave the tarts in the tin for five minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Notes

If you want to use a full 300ml carton of cream, reduce the milk by the 70ml so you use 300ml and 100ml milk.