Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Pasteis de Nata (Custard Tarts)


TOCC strikes again, in the form of a custard tart. Better known as a Portuguese tart, these delicious, mouth watering delights originated in 1837 (many thanks to Louise for the accurate date) and according to SMH, to eat one in Lisbon is a must do in one's life time. The first time my lips ever touched on of these golden, sweet tarts was in Macau. I was holidaying with my two sisters (Lien & Khoan) and it was then that I experienced my first holiday romance. I fell in love instantly with the texture and the flavour of this eggy sweet. I have always been a fan off the Chinese Egg Tart, but the crispy shell on the Portuguese tarts seemed somewhat more exotic (& less oily).
A quick search on Google resulted in many recipes for the Portuguese tarts. I selected one that appeared to be relatively easy and with minimal steps http://www.recipezaar.com/66148
I have a confession - I cheated! A quick glance at the clock showed it was 10:00pm and to be honest I was not up for rolling pastry, waiting the 1 hour for it to chill etc...so I used pre-made low fat puff pastry. I blind baked the shells for about 8 minute or so and the results were good. When making the filling I swapped the 'heavy cream' for low fat thickened cream. I also used a mini muffin tin as opposed to a larger one as I wanted to make WW friendly sized bites.

I believe the results speak for themselves, and they were delicious (better than the cold, stale ones you might get at a cafe). When eaten warm with a strong coffee, I fell in love all over again!

The verdict - a must try for all. Easy to make and done within time it would take for me to drive to my favourite cafe and find a parking spot.