Pandan Coconut Pastéis de Nata
Portuguese custard tarts with a Southeast Asian twist: pandan leaves and coconut milk turn the custard fragrant and pale green, finished with toasted coconut and lime zest.
Method
Turn the oven to its highest setting (250–290 °C, top and bottom heat) at least 30 minutes ahead, with a shelf in the upper third. Brush the cups of a muffin tin with the soft butter.
Add in this stepButter (for the tin) 8 g
Roll the pastry up tightly from a short side and cut it into 6 slices about 2 cm thick. Stand them spiral side up in the cups, dip your thumbs in cold water and press them out until the base is 2 mm thick and the pastry rises just above the rim. Chill the tin for .
Add in this stepPuff pastry (ready-rolled sheet) 160 g
Rinse the pandan leaves, snip them into 1 cm pieces with scissors and blend with the coconut milk for 1 minute until fine (for small amounts use a stick blender in a tall cup, or pound them in a mortar). Strain through a fine sieve or cloth, squeezing hard to collect the green coconut milk, and discard the fibres.
Add in this stepPandan leaves (fresh or frozen) 3Full-fat coconut milk, well shaken 100 ml
Boil the sugar and water in a small 14 cm pan on medium-high heat for without stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup thickens slightly (103 °C on a thermometer). Take care: hot syrup burns badly.
Add in this stepSugar 90 gWater 60 ml
medium-high heatIn another pan, whisk the flour and salt with the milk until smooth, then stir in the pandan coconut milk. Cook on medium heat for , whisking constantly and scraping the bottom, until it thickens like a thin custard.
Add in this stepMilk 40 mlPlain flour 13 gSalt 1 pinch
medium heatPour in the syrup in a thin stream, whisking all the time, then cool for until just warm (about 50 °C). Whisk in the egg yolks until smooth and strain through a fine sieve into a jug.
Add in this stepEgg yolks 3
Fill the pastry cases three-quarters full and bake on the upper shelf of the oven, preheated to 250 °C, for . Coconut milk browns faster than plain milk, so take them out as soon as the pastry is deep golden and the custard has brown spots.
ovenLeave the tarts in the tin for 5 minutes, then cool them on a rack. Meanwhile toast the coconut in a dry pan on medium-low heat for , stirring, until pale golden; it burns quickly, so don't walk away. Scatter the toasted coconut over the warm tarts and finely grate the lime zest on top.
Add in this stepDesiccated or shredded coconut 2 tspLime (for zest) ¼
medium-low heat
Cook's tip
No pandan leaves? Stir pandan extract into the coconut milk instead (about ¼ teaspoon for 12 tarts, less for fewer). Shake the coconut milk can well before measuring so fat and water are mixed, or the custard sets unevenly. Grate only the green part of the lime peel; the white pith is bitter.
Cooking it at camp
Bake the tarts at home and pack them in a rigid box; carry the toasted coconut and lime separately and add them just before eating so the topping stays crisp. At camp, warm the tarts for a few minutes in a covered pan over a low flame to re-crisp the base.