Pastel de Nata Timor — Print Recipe

Flaky pastry cups filled with a creamy egg custard flavored with cinnamon and vanilla, baked until the custard sets with characteristic dark spots on top.

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry
4 egg yolks
200ml whole milk
100g sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cinnamon stick
1 strip lemon peel
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Ground cinnamon for dusting

Instructions

1 Heat milk with cinnamon stick and lemon peel until just simmering. Remove from heat and steep ten minutes.
2 Whisk sugar, flour, and salt in a bowl. Gradually whisk in the warm strained milk until smooth.
3 Return mixture to saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens, about five minutes.
4 Remove from heat, let cool slightly, then whisk in egg yolks one at a time and vanilla.
5 Roll puff pastry tightly into a log. Cut into twelve rounds and press each into a muffin cup, forming thin shells.
6 Fill each pastry shell three-quarters full with custard. Bake at 230 degrees Celsius for fifteen minutes until pastry is golden and custard has dark spots.

Did You Know?

East Timor is one of only two countries in Asia with a strong pastry tradition inherited from Portugal, the other being Macau.