Portuguese Egg Tarts
The glory of puff pastry is that it stays so well in the fridge, ready to be used for crazy desserts and flaky sugar goods whenever you want. I have made puff pastry before and let me tell ya, it is a fucking PAIN in the ass. This dessert is something you can whip up with ingredients you should already have just in case you need a quick baked good!
Here is the recipe for: Portuguese Egg Tarts.
Ingredients:
- 1 roll of puff pastry
- ¾ cup of white granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup of water
- 1 cup of whole milk (divided in half to be used separately)
- 4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- A large lemon peel
- 4 large egg yolks
Equipment Needed: Egg Tart Molds (or a small cupcake pan), sieve
Directions:
Lightly flour a work surface and cut puff pastry into roughly 12 equal rounds using a 3 ½ inch cookie cutter.
Use a cooking spray or melted butter to lightly grease 12 egg tart molds
Press each piece of puff pastry down and up onto the sides of the egg tart molds and use a toothpick to poke one hole in the middle of each mold.
Place the molds in the fridge while working on the rest of the recipe.
Add ⅓ cup of water and ¾ cup of sugar to a small pot and place on the stove. Turn the heat up to medium and stir for about 1 minute to dissolve the sugar.
When you see tiny bubbles appear on the surface of the pot, set a timer to 3 minutes and allow the syrup to boil without stirring.
Turn the stove off, and take the pot off of the stove and set aside while you prepare the custard.
Pour ½ cup of milk into a bowl with 4 tablespoons of flour. Whisk until smooth and the flour dissolved.
Pour your other ½ cup of milk into a medium sized pot and add in the cinnamon stick, and a lemon peel.
Place the pot on your stove and heat for 1 minute on a medium heat
Leave the pot on the heat and slowly pour in the dissolved flour mixture while whisking continuously. When the sauce begins to thicken, take off of the heat and turn off stove.
Pour the syrup into the thickened milk mixture and whisk for about 1 minute, until smooth.
Pour about a tablespoon of the combined milk mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks. Whisk for 10 seconds until it is completely combined. This allows us to bring the eggs to a higher temperature without cooking them.
Make sure not to leave your pot on the stove. Pour the tempered egg yolks into the pot with the milk mixture.
Whisk until a smooth custard is formed.
Through a sieve, strain your custard and discard your lemon peel and cinnamon stick
Preheat your oven to 470 degrees fahrenheit
Add in your custard mixture ¾ of the way and add to the top rack of your oven and bake for 18-22 minutes
Set aside and let cool
Sprinkle with cinnamon and or drizzle some with honey!
