Instructions
There are some things in life that, even with the greatest will in the world, are simply not possible.
Unaided human flight for one. Perpetual motion for another. Explaining Katy Perry and her so-called ‘music’ for a third – seriously, to the father of an 8-year old daughter she’s an incomprehensibly poor role model.
And what of Portuguese custard tarts? Those delicate, egg-rich treats found in almost every Australian café. Their combination of feather-light crisp pastry and unctuously more-ish custard might seem a natural combination, but when you drill down to the actual technique involved, it’s a challenge of Herculean proportions.
I don’t mean to suggest that it’s difficult just for home cooks – the professionals struggle too. To put this into context, there are only three suppliers of these tarts in the whole of Sydney, and just two in Melbourne. Given the scale of the business opportunity, you’d imagine that more bakers would have gotten onto that particular bandwagon.
But there, as the bard tells, lies the rub. It’s just not that simple.
You see, the puff pastry on which they are made requires high heat order to expand into layers and become crisp, yet the custard filling is delicate and heat sensitive. Too much baking and it will curdle. Perhaps the nearest comparison is deep-fried ice cream. That dish needs both extreme heat for crunchy batter, and extreme cold for the frozen centre.
There are several proprietary techniques that enable the Portuguese bakers to achieve their uniquely luscious effect, one of which is the use of a professional deck oven. While you can’t exactly replicate their methods at home, there are a few tricks that will give you an almost-perfect homemade Portuguese custard tart.
Firstly, baking with the fan turned off is a good-enough substitute for the industrial ovens. Secondly, coil up sheet of puff pastry, cut it into slices, then roll them out to line the tins individually. This creates a pastry nearly identical to the rough flaky pastry of Lisbon. Lastly, make the custard filling just before you want to bake it – fresh custard will bake more evenly for a more perfect tart.
So perhaps I was wrong, you can master the Portuguese custard tart. As for resisting them, well, that’s really impossible!
Pasteis de nata – Portuguese-custard-tarts