Hello! Welcome to the third edition of Kitchen Projects, a recipe development and cooking journal by me, Nicola Lamb. I’m a pastry chef and recipe developer and bakery consultant based in London. Thank you so much for subscribing - I’m so excited to share this space with you.
I loved following your journey of the Natas on instagram and now reading all the details is a treat. I've never had Pasteis de Nata and I don't have an excuse anymore since I'm at a stone's throw away from Portugal. Always wanted to visit and now I have an even better reason to go visit. In Bilbao, where I am from, we have Pasteles de Arroz, which funnily enough doesn't have any rice in it and it's really similar to Pasteis de Nata. I ate them all the time while growing up, along with bollos de mantequilla. This newsletter reminded me of my childhood and those pasteles de arroz. Can't wait to try some pasteis de nata. Great read ✨
Hi Nicola, top work and very well laid out recipe! I don't suppose you could hazard a guess how to cook these in an actual deck oven? Lucky enough to have one but at max temp it burns the base before the custard can set. Ideally looking for percentage of stone heat vs overhead heat. It can do 400c and both elements can be set in increments of 10% (like say 70% stone and 30% top heat for pizza). Thanks! Aran
Hi Nicola! Subscribed to KP+ two days ago and already made four of your recipes (cornflake shortbread bars, brownies, basque cheesecake, and this). Your posts are so thorough and I learn so much from baking through them! And the recipes themselves have all been amazing.
I made these and the pastry definitely turned out better than when I’ve made them in the past. But I also ended up with scrambled filling :(. Some potential causes I’ve considered:
- I added in the yolks when the milk and sugar had already cooled down a lot
- I let it sit in the fridge for a day before baking
- I used 260 c fan - highest my oven goes
- I took them out a bit early (my smoke alarms went off! So sad)
- I did something wrong with the milk, starch, and flour heating - maybe didn’t heat long enough? I sifted everything in
Any thoughts? Would love your help - hoping to make these again for friends soon!
I've made these a few times now and they're absolutely delicious! I think I am scrambling the eggs a bit though, it's definitely not as smooth as yours. Am I perhaps not cooking the starch enough? I am weighing everything, so I think the proportions should be correct... I do let the sugar syrup sit overnight so it is cool when I whisk it in.
I have an Ooni pizza oven with the option to use either wood or gas and thought that the pizza oven would be perfect for Natas. It’s possible to fire it up to 500C. What temperature should I aim for? Is there anything in the recipe that I should adjust for because of a higher temperature?
I loved following your journey of the Natas on instagram and now reading all the details is a treat. I've never had Pasteis de Nata and I don't have an excuse anymore since I'm at a stone's throw away from Portugal. Always wanted to visit and now I have an even better reason to go visit. In Bilbao, where I am from, we have Pasteles de Arroz, which funnily enough doesn't have any rice in it and it's really similar to Pasteis de Nata. I ate them all the time while growing up, along with bollos de mantequilla. This newsletter reminded me of my childhood and those pasteles de arroz. Can't wait to try some pasteis de nata. Great read ✨
Thank you for this, Nicola! How might you modify this to get closer to a Chinese bakery style egg tart?
Hi Nicola I’ve got a pizza oven that goes to like 400 c. What are your thoughts on using the pizza oven to make these
Hi Nicola, top work and very well laid out recipe! I don't suppose you could hazard a guess how to cook these in an actual deck oven? Lucky enough to have one but at max temp it burns the base before the custard can set. Ideally looking for percentage of stone heat vs overhead heat. It can do 400c and both elements can be set in increments of 10% (like say 70% stone and 30% top heat for pizza). Thanks! Aran
Hi Nicola! Subscribed to KP+ two days ago and already made four of your recipes (cornflake shortbread bars, brownies, basque cheesecake, and this). Your posts are so thorough and I learn so much from baking through them! And the recipes themselves have all been amazing.
I made these and the pastry definitely turned out better than when I’ve made them in the past. But I also ended up with scrambled filling :(. Some potential causes I’ve considered:
- I added in the yolks when the milk and sugar had already cooled down a lot
- I let it sit in the fridge for a day before baking
- I used 260 c fan - highest my oven goes
- I took them out a bit early (my smoke alarms went off! So sad)
- I did something wrong with the milk, starch, and flour heating - maybe didn’t heat long enough? I sifted everything in
Any thoughts? Would love your help - hoping to make these again for friends soon!
I've made these a few times now and they're absolutely delicious! I think I am scrambling the eggs a bit though, it's definitely not as smooth as yours. Am I perhaps not cooking the starch enough? I am weighing everything, so I think the proportions should be correct... I do let the sugar syrup sit overnight so it is cool when I whisk it in.
Making this tomorrow on a Zoom call with my sisters who live in India! So excited. Thanks for the detailed recipe.
We’re going to use muffin tins / tins fashioned out of foil. Wish us luck :D
I have an Ooni pizza oven with the option to use either wood or gas and thought that the pizza oven would be perfect for Natas. It’s possible to fire it up to 500C. What temperature should I aim for? Is there anything in the recipe that I should adjust for because of a higher temperature?
Thanks,
/Kenny
The other day my sister bought us some egg tarts from Chinatown. Forgot they don’t taste like pastel de natas, was very disappointing.
Will definitely give this a go! Would you ever consider showing how you put together your spreadsheets?
Wow! So detailed. Such a treasure. Thanks so much Nicola♥️