Pasteis de Belem

The Belem egg custard tarts are world famous. Coach loads of visors pile into the cafe in Belem to sample the tarts, and they have spread world wide. The first time I tried these tarts was actually in Hong Kong. Lisbon is one of my favourite cities, and is much closer these days, so I always make some time to try the original Pasteis de Belem (Portugese custard tarts).

Here's a recipe I tried a couple of times for a low fat version, from NotQuiteNigella, (itself based on an original recipe by celebrity Aussie chef Bill Granger). While not as creamy as the the original they are still very good. Also the pastry is never quite as flaky as the original. I used real vanilla pod instead of the vanilla extract mentioned. This was halved and the seeds scaped out and added to the milk. The milk was boiled before adding it to the eggs, flour and sugar mixture, before it was heated on a bainmarie to thicken.

This article suggests that the flakiness of the originals is due to furnace like ovens they use. I must try higher temperatures to see if that helps.