Portugese Tarts

July 9, 2013 by Alia 40 Comments

Portugese Tarts are one of my favorite desserts.  I love the custard filling and the flaky crust.  They are just the perfect size to indulge in something sweet after dinner, without overdoing it.

Good Portugese Tarts can be hard to find.  I’m always on the lookout for them, but don’t always find good ones.

Then, a few weeks ago, I decided to try making my own.  While I couldn’t imagine replicating the goodness of a store bought tart, I thought I should at least try once.  So, I did and I am no longer dependent on a good bakery to get my fix!

I tried two recipes and I’ll share both with you here.

The First Recipe – Portugese Egg Tarts

For the first batch of tarts, I used a recipe that I found on line at All Recipes.  I made the crust myself using a basic pastry recipe.  I then made 12 rounds and lined 12 muffin cups with them.

For the filling of the tarts, I used:

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup milk

3 drops vanilla extract

To make the filling, I beat all of the ingredients listed above together until is was light and foamy.  I used this to fill the 12 muffin cups and baked them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Here’s what they looked like when I was done.

I was quite pleased with this recipe.  The tarts were creamy on the inside and the crust was nice and flaky.   I was very pleased with this recipe.  And then, just a week after I had made these, I stumbled upon another recipe for Portugese Tarts.

I found the recipe in a complimentary Chatelaine magazine that I received at a local bookstore.  I don’t typically buy magazines, so when I found this recipe, I felt compelled to try it out!

The Second Recipe – Perfect Portugese Tarts

For this recipe, I used Butter Puff Pastry to make the crust. Again, the crust was nice and flaky and it was so much easier than making my own crust!

For the filling, I used:

3 egg yolks

1 egg

1 cup milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 T cornstarch

2 tsp vanilla

Once again, I whisked all of the ingredients together until the mixture thickened.  I cooled it in the freezer and then poured/spooned the filling into the muffin cups. I baked them at 500 degrees for about 20 minutes. The result was another set of excellent Portugese Tarts.

How Do They Compare?

Both sets of tarts were delicious.  I’ve had several family members do taste tests for me and they all like both batches.  Phew!

Personally, I like the creaminess of the second batch and the thinner crust on the first batch.  Truly, they are both fantastic.  You can find links to both recipes in this blog post.  Let me know if you try either one!  I’d love to hear how they turn out!