Pastéis de Nata: Portugal’s Custard Tart, and the Monks Who Made It

Portugal’s most famous pastry began as a way to use up egg yolks. In the early nineteenth century the monks and nuns of the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém starched their habits with egg whites, which left hundreds of yolks going spare. Rather than waste them, they baked the yolks into small custard tarts and sold them at a shop beside a sugar-cane refinery to support the monastery. The pastéis de Belém were born of thrift, and Portugal has been eating them ever since.

When the 1820 Liberal Revolution shuttered the monastery, the recipe passed into private hands, and travelers came by steamboat from as far as Lisbon for a taste of the flaky pastry and its warm custard center. The original Belém recipe is still a guarded secret. The version below is the one served on board, close enough to satisfy the craving and simple enough to make at home for a brunch or a family gathering, best enjoyed fresh with um cafezinho.

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup single cream (11–18% milkfat)
• 5 tablespoons caster sugar (or confectioners’ sugar)
• 1 pound puff pastry
• 1/2 stick butter, softened

1. Separate the yolks into a large bowl. Whisking vigorously, add the caster sugar, then pour in the cream while continuing to mix.
2. Set a heavy pan over low-medium heat, add the mixture, and stir frequently until it begins to simmer. Keep simmering until it thickens, then let it cool.
3. Heat the oven to 450°F. Press puff pastry into a greased muffin tin, layering and lightly brushing each layer with butter to build the shells.
4. Spoon the cooled custard into each shell and bake for 15 minutes. Cool before serving. Serves about 4, depending on tin size.

Taste them on board on our Enticing Douro and Flavors of Portugal & Spain journeys, or eat the original beside the Jerónimos Monastery on the Lisbon land package, where the recipe has stayed secret for two centuries.