Pastel De Nata

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1. 1Step 1: You will need jam tart/fairy cake tins or, better still, pastel de nata tins, plus oil to grease them.
2. 2Step 2: Start with the syrup for the custard. Put the sugar in a small pan with 150ml water, half the cinnamon stick and half the lemon strips. Bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened – it’s ready when it hits about 107C.
3. 3Step 3: If you don’t have a thermometer, run a teaspoon under cold water, then put a little syrup on to it and, when it’s cool enough, pinch it between two fingers: it should form a thin thread when you draw them apart. Take off the heat and leave to infuse (this can be done the day before).
4. 4Step 4: Put the flour and salt in a bowl and stir briefly. Add the water, and stir with one hand until it just comes together into a dry dough.
5. 5Step 5: Turn out on to a clean surface and knead until smooth. If the dough is stubbornly flaky, wet your hands to do this, but try not to add more water unless it’s absolutely necessary. Wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
6. 6Step 6: Meanwhile, cut the butter into small, flat tiles. Cut out two rectangles of greaseproof paper, and draw a 15cm x 20cm rectangle in the middle of one of them.
7. 7Step 7: Arrange the tiles of butter in a tight rectangle in the centre of the other piece of paper, then put the other sheet on top drawing side up and roll out the butter between the two sheets until it roughly fills the drawn rectangle. Put the butter and its paper in the fridge.
8. 8Step 8: Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about the same size as the butter rectangle, then, keeping this central rectangle thicker, roll or stretch out the sides so you end up with a cross shape, with four thin arms and a thick, butter-sized rectangle in the centre.
9. 9Step 9: Peel the paper off the butter, then lay it in the centre of the cross and fold the arms over the top, so they completely enclose the butter.
10. 10Step 10: Roll out the dough rectangle to about three times its original length, then fold the top third down into the middle and the bottom third up over the top. Turn the dough 90 degrees, then repeat the roll and fold process. Wrap and chill for 20 minutes, then roll out for a final time to a ½cm-thick rectangle that’s about 20cm x 35cm.
11. 11Step 11: With the long side facing you, roll up very tightly into a long sausage and wrap well (you may find it easier to cut it in two before wrapping). Chill for at least an hour.
12. 12Step 12: Put the milk in a medium pan with 10g of the butter, the other half of the cinnamon stick and the remaining strips of lemon peel. Bring to just below a boil, then take off the heat and leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes.
13. 13Step 13: Meanwhile, put the flours in a heatproof jug. Remove the flavourings from the infused milk, then pour a little of it into the flour jug, whisking to dissolve the flours, until you have a smooth paste, then whisk in a little more, repeating until about half of the milk is in there.
14. 14Step 14: Return this to the pan, set it over a low heat and stir until the milk mix has thickened to the consistency of double cream.
15. 15Step 15: Take off the heat, stir in the remaining butter and almost all of the syrup, having first removed the flavourings, but keeping a couple of spoonfuls of syrup back for later. (You can make the custard up to this point the day before, if convenient.)
16. 16Step 16: When you are ready to bake, get the pastry out of the fridge to warm up slightly. Heat the oven to 260C conventional/gas 9 (the fan is not helpful here), or as high as your oven will go if less, and put two metal trays inside to heat up. Lightly grease your nata tins or shallow fairy cake/jam tart tins.
17. 17Step 17: Cut the pastry into roughly 17g slices, put each one in a tin or mould and use damp fingers to press it all the way up the sides and slightly proud of the top. Be careful not to squash the thicker top edge, because this will form the rim. Return to the fridge for 20 minutes.
18. 18Step 18: Beat the egg yolks into the custard and fill the cases by three-quarters with custard.
19. 19Step 19: Working quickly, put the tins on the hot sheets and bake for about 10 minutes, until the pastry is dark golden and the custard starting to brown in spots – you’ll need to judge by eye when they’re ready, because this very much depends on your oven.
20. 20Step 20: Brush lightly with the reserved syrup, if using, while still warm.