Lisbon Custard Tarts with Blistered Tops

What you need

• 320 g (11 oz) all-butter puff pastry, 1 sheet, chilled
• 1 tbsp soft butter, for the tin
• 200 g (1 cup) sugar
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 piece lemon peel, a wide strip, no white pith
• 30 g (1/4 cup) plain flour
• 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) whole milk
• 6 large egg yolks
• ground cinnamon, for serving
• icing sugar, for serving, optional

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Grease a 12-hole deep bun tin with the butter.

2. 2

   Roll the pastry up tightly from a short side into a firm log. Trim the ends and cut it into 12 even rounds.

3. 3

   Stand each round cut side up in a hole of the tin. With wet thumbs, press it out from the centre until the pastry is thin at the base and reaches just above the rim. Chill the tin for at least 20 min.

4. 4

   Put the sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon peel in a small pan. Boil without stirring until slightly thickened, 3-4 min, or 105 °C (220 °F) on a thermometer. Set aside.

5. 5

   Whisk the flour with about a quarter of the milk in a saucepan until smooth.

6. 6

   Bring the rest of the milk to a simmer in another pan, then whisk it into the flour mixture. Cook over medium heat, whisking, until it thickens like thin custard, 1-2 min.

7. 7

   Lift the cinnamon stick and lemon peel out of the sugar pan. Pour the warm sugar mixture into the milk in a thin stream, whisking all the time.

8. 8

   Leave to cool until just warm, about 10 min, then whisk in the yolks. Strain through a sieve into a jug.

9. 9

   Heat the oven to its maximum, at least 260 °C (500 °F), with a shelf in the upper third.

10. 10

    Pour the custard into the chilled pastry cases until each is about three quarters full.

11. 11

    Bake until the pastry is crisp and deep golden and the tops are blistered with dark spots, 10-15 min.

12. 12

    Cool in the tin for 10 min, then ease the tarts out onto a rack.

13. 13

    Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with ground cinnamon and a little icing sugar if liked.

Imported from honestcooking.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.