Pasteis de nata from Bouzy Rouge
Back in Melbourne, a call to Portuguese-born Jose De Oliveira, the owner of Bouzy Rouge in Richmond, is enlightening. De Oliveira has tried the tarts in Antiga Confeitaria de Belem and is certain they do have a point of difference. "Even myself, I've tried to make the pasteis de nata and they are never quite the same as they are in Portugal. "I know that there is a secret ingredient." He thinks the tarts contain cream and that it's a blend of rice and cream that makes them so special. "It leaves a really smooth thickness," he says. A colleague of his has another theory — that the secret is lard in the dough and rice flour in the custard. Without knowing for sure, the restaurant uses a recipe from a Portuguese cookbook. Until someone cracks the pasteis de Belem recipe code, it will have to do.
Ingredients
Dough
500g plain flour
Salt
250ml water
50g butter
50g margarine
Custard
1 litre milk
1 stick cinnamon
Lemon peel
150g white breadcrumbs
12 egg yolks
200g sugar
50g flour
Method
Knead the flour with a pinch of salt and the water, then shape into a ball, cover with a cloth and let rest for 20 minutes. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to form a narrow rectangle 3 millimetres thick. Mix the butter and margarine until it becomes creamy and cover the dough with half the mixture. Fold it in three sections, then roll it up slowly until it forms a roll about 3 centimetres thick. Let it rest on a tray in a cool place.
To make the custard, boil the milk with the cinnamon stick and lemon peel, pour it over the breadcrumbs, stir until the breadcrumbs are completely mixed in, then mix in the egg yolks. Add the sugar and flour and mix in. Remove the cinnamon and lemon peel.
Cut the dough into 1.5-centimetre-long pieces. Place them upright in individual cupcake moulds and flatten them out from the centre with your thumbs. Stir the custard and fill the moulds until they are two-thirds full, then place them on a baking tray and bake for about 25-30 minutes in an oven at 200C.
From Portuguese Homestyle
Cooking by Ana Patuleia Ortins.
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