Pasteis de Nata – cheating my way back to Portugal

Mr B and I went on our summer holiday last week. Three days in Lisbon and a couple inland near the Spanish border. I can thoroughly recommend it for sunshine, great scenery, lovely people, good food and a slower pace. If are planning on going to Portugal, do get in touch and I’ll write you a list. 

Before we’d even left the Metro station from the Airport I’d spotted two stalls selling the famous Pasteis de Nata. A patisserie in Belem, just up the coast from Lisbon, started making these cinnamon flavoured custard tarts back 1837. The recipe is reported to have been developed by monks in order to use up leftover egg yolks. That particular recipe is a closely guarded secret but very close approximations have become a staple around the country.

This is how it should look if you eat it with an espresso in 27 degrees and sunshine:

We all know that even if you buy the exact same bottle of wine that tasted so wonderful on the veranda of your French gate, it’s never going to taste as good back home when you’ve got work looming on Monday morning. So, this is an easy-make homage to Pasteis de Nata. It will evoke the memories, without undoing all that relaxation from the holiday!

You can find the recipe over on my other home – the Rangemaster.co.uk blog:

Recipe for Pasteis de Nata the cheats way at Rangemaster.co.uk