Portuguese Custard Tarts cooked in my Pie Maker amid Cyclone Jasper

Why  travel to Lisbon or anywhere else in Portugal to enjoy their famous Portuguese Custard tarts, when you can make them in your own kitchen at a fraction of the cost, and honestly they are just as delicious. We holidayed in Lisbon about 15 years ago, and we really did enjoy their custard tarts, note the plural, every morning with our espresso coffee along with the locals, but now I am just happy to cook and eat them in my own kitchen. It's cyclone season here in Far North Queensland, and Cyclone Jasper has been and gone.

Cooking with pastry in the tropical humidity can be rather unpredictable at the best of times, just like a cyclone, however pastry unlike a cyclone can be refrigerated to keep it controllable. It's been a wild week here in Cairns, but thankfully we dodged a bullet. Cyclone Jasper crossed the coast at Wujal Wujal on 13th December, 2023, a memorable day.  Wujal Wujal is largely an Aboriginal community approximately 174 km North of Cairns, where we are holidaying for Christmas with our daughter, in Cairns that is. Recorded gusts of wind were 120 km per hour for Cairns, still scary, and we have had around 400 mls of rain to date. That's a lot of rain. Further North in the Daintree and even in some suburbs of Cairns higher rainfall totals have been recorded.  However we aren't growing mould here yet which is a good thing. Also there is major flooding in the Cairns area but not where we are fortunately. When a cyclone is threatening the North Queensland Coast, precautions have to be taken to prevent any flying missiles from causing havoc so all pot plants have to be moved, all outdoor BBQs and seating have to be relocated inside, pool areas cleared of furniture if you have one, and we did all that, however fortunately there wasn't any damage. In one sense for us here in Cairns Jasper was the perfect Category 2 tropical cyclone. We were on the verge of taping up the windows, but it wasn't necessary. Probably the biggest advantage for us was not losing power. So it wasn't the week to plan any ambitious cooking projects just in case I lost power in the middle of baking a sponge cake. 

This is where Air Fryers and Pie Makers, the fast cooking appliances of the appliance family, have an advantage over ovens and hot plates, and they don't heat up the house.  A Thermomix could fall into that category too I suppose, except we don't have one of those. We saw some tourists in town crying into their drinks during all of this mayhem. So the message to everybody is to not plan a major holiday to the tropics during the wet season even though it's much cheaper, you could be disappointed unless you are a phantom "storm chaser". The travel agents don't always emphasise that little detail to overseas tourists. We are not in that category though, we are here for Christmas with family.

The Backstory for the tarts:

The custard I've used for this recipe is based on a recipe by Jamie Oliver, however the Piemaker method is mine. Jamie has videos available online about how to make these tarts in the oven using commercial puff pastry, which he folds and presses into the muffin tray holes in a tricky and clever way. I have tried that method once and wasn't that pleased with it, however some things take practice so I am not saying not to try Jamie's method. The problem could have been with the pastry.

I've made my tarts a few times now in the Piemaker and experimented in various ways with the method, and it's important that the pastry bases are chilled before pressing them into the greased Pie maker so that they retain their shape as much as possible before pouring in the custard mixture. I cooked the pastry separately during one trial, allowed them to cool, and them placed them back into the piemaker and poured in the custard to cook. I couldn't see much difference in the finished product however overall it took longer. All of the custard tarts have tasted great regardless of the appearance of  the finished tart. Mr. HRK has enjoyed all of my successes and near successes. I just wanted to achieve the perfect looking tarts for photos and appearances, call me pedantic. They always taste delicious regardless of how they look. When we go out for coffee to a coffee shop which is quite rare as Mr. HRK is a very competent barista at home, I always sample their custard tarts for research purposes of course, and often they are drier than I prefer, or are only half filled with custard. The perfect Portuguese Custard Tart is a work of art. 

These photos were taken of my custard tarts before we left Mackay for Cairns.

About the Gardenia flower:
I just had to include our beautiful white Gardenia flower from our garden in this post. The flowers only last a couple of days when cut, and become creamy in colour. Gardenia flowers have an uplifting and captivating aroma, creamy, very floral, with subtle coconut and peach undertones, reminiscent for me of the floral perfumes of the orient and can change throughout the day. I just adore the fragrance of them and the purity of the flower. I am always happy when our Gardenia bush flowers.

TRIVIA: Please allow me to indulge with a little piece of trivia for you, even though I'm not really into the British royals in a big way. Apparently Catherine Middleton, the now Princess of Wales, wore a perfume called White Gardenia Petals by niche British fine perfume house Illumium for her Royal wedding to Prince William. The scent quickly sold out and is still quite difficult to find. I only found this out when I was doing a little research into the Gardenia. Good perfume choice Kate, the price might be a little bit out of my league though.

Let's Cook:

INGREDIENTS:

2 sheets frozen Butter Puff Pastry, makes 10 tarts (+ 1 extra sheet for extra tarts if necessary)

N.B. (1 sheet of Pampas Puff Pastry makes 4 tart bases for the pie maker + 1 extra base if you scrunch together and roll out the leftover pastry scraps)

1 tablespoon cinnamon (enough to cover both pastry sheets)

N.B. 6 tarts can be baked at any one time in my pie maker, however there are many 4 hole Pie Makers on the market.

CUSTARD:

(I have doubled the quantity of custard to ensure there is enough for 10 tarts and a couple of extras for a 6 hole pie maker). We don't want a sad looking half empty custard tart. 

4 eggs

4 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

2 cups crème fraîche (or you could use the cheaper sour cream as an alternative)

Method:

Prepare custard mix:

Into a large pouring jug, whisk together the eggs, sugar, crème fraîche, and vanilla paste

Cover with cling wrap and place in the refrigerator until the pastry is prepared.

Preparing the pastry shells and the Pie Maker for cooking

If using commercially Frozen pastry sheets which is what I used, only partially thaw the pastry as it will be easier to cut. Quickly sprinkle each pastry sheet with 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon and spread over the pastry with your hand.

Nobody will see the base, just taste the cinnamon flavour

Use the pie base cutter that comes with the Pie Maker to prepare your pie bases. Cut 4 large tart bases from each pastry sheet with the pie base cutter provided, or (11 cm/4 1/2 in),  and place on a lightly floured board and place back in the refrigerator to keep chilled. (This is essential in the tropical climate where I live. However most pastry should be chilled before cooking). The pastry scraps can then be bundled up into a ball, and rolled out to make another pastry piece, large enough for two more bases. Place them in the refrigerator as well.

Follow the instructions to heat your particular pie maker. 

Pie Maker instructions:

(If you own a pie maker, you will already have instructions that you follow, however I will still write mine up to refer to just in case.)

My instructions are to Close the lid of the appliance and plug it into the mains power outlet socket. Both red power indicator and green working indicator will light up indicating that the pie maker is connected to the mains and begins preheating. The red power indicator will remain ON until you unplug the appliance from the mains power.

It will take approximately 3 minutes to reach the recommended baking temperature. The green working indicator will go OFF when the pie maker is ready for use. (Which I find a bit strange but anyway!!)

Open the appliance and brush the baking plates with a small amount of vegetable oil. 

Put the prepared pastry bases into the bottom baking plate. 

Pour the custard into the pastry shells. Be careful not to let any pour outside the pastry.

I added a sprinkle of cinnamon to the surface of these tarts, as I forgot to spread it over the pastry before adding the custard. Same result. I think that was during the 3rd batch that I made of these. That's the way it goes sometimes.

Close the lid of the pie maker to begin cooking the tarts.

Cook for 10 minutes. Lift the lid to check if they are cooked and remove any that are with a plastic spatula. Don't use metal.  The pastry should be browned and the custard set. If you hear any mixture sizzling from within the pie maker, open the lid immediately and check if cooked tarts need to be removed. Every pie maker is  slightly different in this regard and you will know how yours works. Most of mine cooked within 10 minutes, however a couple needed to be left a little longer to be ready. 

The tarts can be made in 30 minutes.

 My cooking notes:

Leftover custard for the tarts can be stored covered in the refrigerator for using in a couple of days

A nice variation to the custard is to add the grated zest from 2 oranges

Please use Puff Pastry made with butter as they will cook much better

Instructions for using your pie maker may be different to the instructions for mine

The Piemaker I own is an Anko brand from K Mart, model no. KP2849-FP. However this model is now 2 years old. It's not expensive and does the job quite adequately. This isn't meant to be any kind of promo for KMart, I have been asked about the piemaker by readers from my IMK post, so I've included the details.

I hope if you make these tarts you will let me know how much you enjoy them, and post a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #happy_retirees_kitchen.

As I write this it's still pouring rain here, which is to be expected in the aftermath of a cyclone. The Test cricket match is on in Perth, Western Australia, so MR. HRK is happily watching that on the TV.

Warm wishes,

Pauline