Learning to Make Portuguese Tarts at an Online Pastel de Nata Workshop

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I’ll travel for dessert.  And high on that list of desserts is a pastel de nata in Lisbon, Portugal.  So, when I discovered that you could learn how to make the custard tarts at a Pastel de Nata Workshop in Lisbon, I had to sign up.

It wasn’t just any Lisbon cooking class.  It’s an opportunity to learn from a Pastel de Nata Master in an actual bakery.  Our expert teacher,  João, is the owner of the award winning bakery, Pastalaria Batalha.

And João was prepared to share his secrets to making Portuguese tarts – – one of my favourite desserts in the world.

UPDATE:  Sadly, in the wake of the pandemic, João has had to close the Lisbon bakery.  But you can still take the class online, and there are two other bakery locations in Portugal (addresses below).  This post describes my experience at the Lisbon bakery, but you will learn the same sweet secrets online.

Learning about Portuguese Custard Tarts at the Pastel de Nata workshop:

If you’re new to nata, here’s why I’m so crazy about them.   Essentially, it’s a crunchy puff pastry tart filled with sweet and silky custard that’s caramelized on top.  The tarts are best eaten warm out of the oven, with a light sprinkle of cinnamon (total bliss!).  They’re sold all over Lisbon, usually for one Euro.

The name pastel de nata (pronounced pash-tel de nah-ta) means cream pastry.  If we’re talking about more than one (and why would you limit yourself to just one), the plural is pastéis de nata.

The real story of how the pastel de nata was invented:

The story goes that pastéis de nata were invented about 300 years ago by monks at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, west of Lisbon.  At the time, the nuns used egg whites to starch their uniforms, and came up with pastéis de nata as a delicious use for the egg yolks.  When the monastery closed, the secret recipe was sold to Pastéis de Belém, a shop nearby.   The shop is still there and tourists stand in long line-ups to get them.  (In my view, they’re worth a try, but not the best in town.)

It’s a good story, and good marketing, according to João.  In fact, there are records from all over Portugal of the pastel de nata recipe dating back to the 12th century, he told us.  It’s more likely that the recipe was developed by the cooks that accompanied children of wealthy families when they were sent to churches to learn to read and write.  These cooks were the best chefs and had all the time in the world, said João.

Nowadays, the pastel de nata is an iconic food of Portugal and gaining popularity all over the world.

Pastalaria Batalha

João opened Pastelaria Batalha on Camões Square in the centre of Lisbon in 2017 (now closed). But really, it’s been in the making over five generations of his family.

It all started started when João was a kid by making coffee and sangria in his family’s restaurant.  He learned how to bake pastries and bread by the age of 14 and went on to study hospitality management.

And João puts a lot of stock in tradition, using family recipes that have been handed down over the ages.  The bakery’s logo pays homage to Beatriz Costa, an actress from the golden age of Portuguese cinema who was from his family’s home town, Charneca.

It’s all turning out to be a recipe for success.  In the last two years, Pastalaria Batalha has twice won the bronze medal in the Best Pastel de Nata Competition in Lisbon.

João made sure we were fortified for the workshop by serving up some traditional Portuguese sweets before things got underway.

The one on the left is a silver medal winning Lisbon cheesecake (queijada de Lisboa), baked with lemon and almonds, based on his Mom’s recipe.  the other is a tart made with white beans (pastel de feijão).   A dessert made with white beans may sound odd, but it’s creamy and sweet and has won the gold medal for the last two years.  Made with almond flour, it’s also gluten-free.

Suiting up for the Pastel de Nata workshop

Since the workshop took place in a real bakery,  everyone has to observe hygienic standards by washing their hands with antibacterial soap, and wearing the special Pastalaria Batalha aprons and shoe coverings.  We also wore hairnets….just not for the photo.

By the way, you don’t need any special experience to participate in the workshop.  I am proof of that.  My expertise is in eating pastéis de nata.  (I think I once polished off 6 in a day!).

It’s not the Batalha apron, but you can get a pastel de nata apron of your own with this link.

Learning to make puff pastry

João uses margarine, instead of butter, for his puff pastry, and, as you can see, it’s just a little!  He showed us how to work the margarine into the pastry and to fold the dough to create the layers.

Of course, the bakery had equipment for mixing and rolling the dough, but you can use a food processor (or your hands) and a rolling pin when you make the pastéis de nata at home.

After the dough was mixed, we all got a chance to play with some to see how stretchy it was.

After making a sheet of dough, we rolled it into a tube shape and then left it to chill in the fridge while we made the custard.

Making the custard filling

For the custard, we brought milk, with a bit of lemon zest and a cinnamon stick, to a boil.  Then João turned down the temperature while adding a sugar and flour mixture, using a whisk to avoid any clumping and to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

Once this reached a custard consistency, it had to cool before adding many egg yolks, which is, of course, why some call them Portuguese egg tarts.

The trick to form the pastry shells

To this day, the dough for pastéis de nata is formed in molds by hand.  The experts can do it in seconds.

After we cut the tube of dough into (sort of) evenly sized chunks, João showed us the trick to pressing the dough into the pastel de nata molds.

We each did three, and while they weren’t exactly perfect, they did the job.

Then we took turns filling the tarts with the custard using a filling dispenser.

Cooked to perfection

The pastéis de nata took about 12 minutes to bake with a turn halfway through to make sure they were cooked evenly.

While they were baking (and my anticipation was building), we chatted about the process and João shared stories about the bakery and the history of the famous Portuguese tart.

Time to eat pastéis de nata!

Once the tarts had cooled sufficiently, it was time to enjoy.  There were three tarts for each of us (I took two with me), along with some sour cherry liqueur (ginginha).  Delicious!

By the way, a pastel de nata is meant to be eaten with your hands, and you don’t need to worry about the calories.  It depends on the recipe, but there are generally under 200 calories in one of the tarts.  Plus, there are a lot of hills to climb in Lisbon.

Overall, I’d say that the Pastel de Nata Workshop was a lot of tasty fun..  The bonus is that you learn the tricks to make this fantastic treat at home.  A little knowledge could be a dangerous thing!

Travel Bliss Now was welcomed as a guest by Pastalaria Batalha, but my opinions are, as always, my own.

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