Another great & simple dessert to make for the family at home or your special guests are these dainty little Portuguese tarts. I have never seen them in American bakeries, but came across several recipes for them on some of the blog sites that I frequent. One blog in particular is written by a lovely young lady named Lorraine, who lives in Sydney with her husband and writes great reviews on her travels to places all over the world…Needless to say, I live vicariously through her writing on her blog called Not Quite Nigella. I think I read about these Portuguese tarts on her blog about a year ago, and have always wanted to try them. Since I had made some homemade custard for a parfait dessert, I wanted to use some of it to make these delicious tarts. My recipe worked really well and all you have to do is be careful not to fill them too much so that they do not overflow in the oven. Lorraine’s recipe is a little different in that she uses whole milk instead of half & half, but they still came out just fine. After baking, some people coat them with sugar and flame them to caramelize the surface, which is the more traditional way of serving them. I simply dusted mine with powdered sugar and served them warm with fresh fruit. I guarantee that they will be a hit with your family and friends.
Portuguese Tarts
I recipe vanilla custard
1 sheet of puff pastry
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar **if you are going to caramelize them
Powdered Sugar **If you are going to dust them
Sliced fresh fruit
Roll the puff pastry up on the long side and cut ¼ “ thick slices of the dough. You should get about 12 pieces. Put each piece of dough on your counter and roll out thinly, until you can see that the round layers have created a beehive effect. Layer each circle of dough into a greased muffin tin and refrigerate until you make your custard. Once your custard has been made, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove your dough from the refrigerator and score the bottoms with a fork, then gently spoon 1-2 Tablespoons of custard into the shell. The custard should fill the shell about half way. Bake this at 400°F until the edges of the tart shells have taken on some color. That will let you know that the dough has cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.
Leave a Reply