Vegan Pastéis De Nata
These vegan pastéis de nata are addictively good! With shatteringly crisp laminated pastry and a soft, creamy, lemon and cinnamon scented custard filling, these vegan custard tarts are a real treat.
Servings 12 tarts
Equipment
- 12 cup muffin tin
Ingredients
Custard:
- 1 unwaxed lemon (zest only)
- 1-2 small cinnamon sticks
- 250 ml (1 cup) vegan single cream (I use Oatly)
- 250 g/ml (1 cup) unsweetened creamy non-dairy milk (I use soy) divided
- 15 g (2 Tablespoons) custard powder
- 10 g (1 ½ Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 100 g (½ cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 30 g (2 Tablespoons) vegan block butter
Pastry:*
- 170 g (1 cup + 7 Tablespoons) plain (all-purpose) flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 100 g (6 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) cold water
- 115 g (½ cup) vegan block butter softened
Instructions
- Ideally you should prepare the custard and pastry the day before you want to make the tarts.
- Use a vegetable peeler to peel the zest of a lemon into long strips. Try and avoid getting too much of the white pith.1 unwaxed lemon
- Place the lemon zest, 1-2 cinnamon sticks depending on how strong a cinnamon flavour you want, cream and 200g of the milk in a pan. Heat until almost simmering then remove from the heat and set aside to infuse for about 1 hour.250 g/ml (1 cup) unsweetened creamy non-dairy milk (I use soy), 250 ml (1 cup) vegan single cream (I use Oatly), 1-2 small cinnamon sticks
- Mix the custard powder and cornflour with the remaining 50g of milk and add it to the pan along with the sugar and vanilla, whisk to combine. Place the pan over a medium heat and stir constantly with a balloon whisk until it comes up to the boil and thickens.15 g (2 Tablespoons) custard powder, 10 g (1 ½ Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch), 100 g (½ cup) caster or granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Use a spatula to scrape the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl or jug. Discard the lemon peel and cinnamon sticks. Cover the custard with clingfilm directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours until completely cold.30 g (2 Tablespoons) vegan block butter
- To make the pastry, mix the flour, salt and water together in a bowl, knead it very briefly to make a smooth, stiff, but slightly sticky dough. Cover and set aside to rest for 15 minutes.170 g (1 cup + 7 Tablespoons) plain (all-purpose) flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, 100 g (6 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) cold water
- Roll the dough out thinly on a floured surface into a square, approx 26 cm/10 in. Try and keep it as neat and even as possible. You want the dough to be thin, but not so thin that it risks tearing. Brush off any excess flour.
- Give the butter a good stir so that it is smooth and spreadable. Carefully spread slightly less than ⅓rd of the butter thinly and evenly over ⅔rds of the dough, leaving a 2cm border. Be very careful not to tear the dough as you spread.115 g (½ cup) vegan block butter
- Neatly fold the unbuttered third of dough over the middle third. Brush off any excess flour and fold the remaining third on top of the rest of the dough, as though you were folding a letter to go in an envelope.
- Rotate the dough 90 degrees, so the last fold is facing you. Roll it out into another 26cm square and repeat the same process.
- Again rotate the dough 90 degrees so that the fold is facing you and this time roll out the dough into a large rectangle, about 26 x 30 cm/10 x 12 in. Spread the remaining butter evenly over the entire surface of the dough.
- Starting at one of the short edges, tightly roll up the rectangle into a log, brushing off any excess flour as you go. Wrap tightly in clingfilm and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 4 hours.
- When you are ready to bake, lightly oil a 12 hole muffin tin and optionally line it with thin strips of baking paper - this just makes it easier to lift the tarts out of the tin once they are baked. Preheat the oven to 260℃/240℃ fan/500℉/gas mark 9.
- Slice the ends off the refrigerated pastry so that they are neat, then cut it into 12 even slices, place them cut side up in the muffin tin.
- Wet your thumbs then press them straight down in the middle of the dough spiral. Smooth the dough up the sides of the tin, making sure that it comes above the lip of the tin. It should be slightly thicker at the top than at the base and be careful not to squash the top edge as that will form the frilly rim. You also need to be careful not to leave the bottom too thin or the custard will leak out. Place the tray in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Give the chilled custard a good stir, then divide it evenly between the pastry cases. Bake for about 12-15 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the custard is starting to brown in spots. Keep an eye on them after about 10 minutes and pull them out if the custard starts to boil over. (It will puff up a lot as it cooks, you just don't want it to burst it's skin and start leaking out over the pastry.)
- Allow to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes, then carefully lift them out onto a wire rack and allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving. Best consumed on the day they are made.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- USE SCALES. As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scales rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- The butter for the pastry needs to be very soft and spreadable otherwise it can tear the dough, so make sure that you take it out of the fridge to warm up at least an hour before you want to make the pastry. You also do not want it to be overly soft and melty however!
- *Instead of making your own pastry, you can use one 320g sheet of ready rolled puff pastry; unroll it, remove the paper and roll it back up again tightly from one of the short edges then follow the slicing and shaping directions in the recipe.