Pasteis de Nata / Portuguese custard tarts

Pasteis de nata are traditional Portuguese custard tarts. They are also known as pastel de nata. To know more about these delicious beauties , read here. I found them very easy to prepare and very yummy. My 2 1/2 year old son didn't even wait till they cooled :) he gobbled some tarts, even before I could take any pics. I was left with only few tarts to take the pic. Believe me, when I say they were yummilicious and I bet, no one can stop at only 1 tart :)

PASTEIS DE NATA / PORTUGUESE CUSTARD TARTS

Ingredients:
1 package of puff pastry sheets,
4 egg yolks,
1 1/2 cups of whole milk,
1 tsp of vanilla essence
3-4 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour,
1/2 cup of sugar,
1 tbsp of orange rind and
a pinch of nutmeg powder.

Method:
Thaw the puff pastry sheets. Heat the oven to 170º C. To make the custard- Put the milk in a sauce pan and heat it on a low flame. Whisk the egg yolks with sugar and vanilla essence till the sugar is well blended with the milk. In another bowl, take some cold milk and add the corn starch to it and mix until there are no lumps in it, keep aside. Slowly add the egg yolks and sugar to the milk and stir it...make sure to boil the milk on low flame. When it starts boiling, add the cornstarch mix to the milk slowly, away from the heat and stirring it with the other hand. Now return the pan back to the flame and cook on low heat till the custard thickens. remove from heat and cool completely.
Lightly grease the muffin cups. Roll the puff pastry sheet and using a cookie cutter, cut circles big enough to cover the bottom and sides of the muffin cups. gentle place each circle into the muffin cups and press on all the sides and make sure there are no air pockets. Pour the prepared custard into the shells and bake for 20-30 minutes or until you the shells and the filling is lightly brown on the top.
Serve it warm or after it cools with a cup of hot tea / coffee or as a quick and yummy dessert after the dinner. Enjoy !

Note: You can even bake the puff pastry shells for 8-10 minutes, before pouring the custard to ensure that the pastry is not uncooked. If doing so, line the puff pastry in the cups with parchment paper and put some raw(dry) baking beans or some rice in to parchment paper to prevent the puff pastry from rising. Remove the beans/ rice and the parchment paper and fill with the prepared custard and bake as mentioned above.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

I am sending this to AWED- Potuguese hosted this month by Priya of Priya's Easy and tasty recipes and event started by DK of Chef In You.