Pastéis de Belém

March 9th, 2018 | bread & pastries

Admittedly, the original we tried during our shore leave in Lisbon tasted even better. This certainly has atmospheric reasons. Anyhow, I’ve tried many recipes for Portugal enthusiasts – and here’s one that really works, is simple, and comes very close to the original.

Pastéis de Belém

The cream patties were invented in the famous Jerónimos Monastery in Belém. They have been manufactured in the no less famous Confeitaria Pastéis de Belém near the monastery since 1837 (!). Unbelievable 20,000 tartlets per day, according to the old secret recipe and everything actually still by hand in a „glass“ bakery.

The monastery has been designated a World Heritage Site. I think UNESCO should urgently consider making Pastéis de Belém a culinary heritage. They taste heavenly good. By the way, in the rest of Portugal these cream cakes are called Pastéis de Nata – Nata for cream.

Pastéis de Belém / Pastéis de Nata

(makes 12 tartlets)

8 egg yolks

beat with the blender and pour through a sieve into a saucepan, add

500 ml cream

150 g sugar

1 ts grated lemon peel

heat slowly, stirring constantly

1 TS cornstarch

stir with some water and add to the egg mixture, simmer briefly until the mass becomes thick, take from the fire and allow to cool (stirring occasionally, otherwise forms a skin)

2 rolls of frozen puff pastryout of the cooling rack (each appr. 275 g)

cut out of the puff pastry circles (Ø12 cm) and line greased muffin molds with it, pierce the dough on the ground several times with a fork

1 TS Grand Marnier (can be omitted)

drizzle dough with some Grand Marnier, then fill in the eggs mixture

bake at 220 ° C for about 30 minutes, the top of the tartlets should be caramelized and golden brown, if necessary you can place the tartlets briefly under the grill

1 ts cinnamon

1 TS sugar

mix, serve sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar

And this is how the wife of the captain does it:

This recipe leaves 8 egg whites. Please do not throw it away! Either you bake Macarons or Amaretti the next day, or you can freeze them in portions. Then you can use the frozen whites for baking or, for example, in a scrambled egg.

I put the leftovers from cutting out the puff pastry on a baking tray, brush them with beaten egg, sprinkle them with light and black sesame seeds and bake them at 200° C for about 15 minutes. This makes a crunchy little snack or a small side dish for soup.

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