Portuguese custard cups!

 

One yummy thing I have made just recently is Portuguese custard cups!

One of my favorite Portuguese desserts! Growing up in a Portuguese family I have had these quite often! They are the perfect combination of soft custard and puffy, flakey, soft pastry! One thing about them that usually stops people from making them is how long it takes! So I scouted around looking for a recipe that was simple yet tasty! I came across a recipe that seemed fairly simple and still looked like the original! I tweaked it slightly to fit my families taste buds and was very happy with the results! I hope you like this simple recipe and enjoy making these yummy little custard cups! 

 

Ingredients: 

 

2 packages of puff pastry sheets ( usually found near the frozen pie shells! ) 

12 extra large egg yolks 

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup of heavy cream

1 cup of whole milk 

 

Directions: 

 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees  

2. Thaw the packages of puff pastry ( I left mine on the counter in the packages for about 35 minutes! ) 

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and place the yolks in a large bowl 

4. Add 1/2 cup of sugar 

5. Using a hand held whisk, whisk well to combine 

6. Add vanilla and whisk to combine 

7. Add heavy cream and whole milk again whisking to combine

8. Strain mixture through a whisk ( I used a hand held! ) and set aside

9. Grease a muffin pan with melted butter ( I did regular sized cups so I used a 12 muffin pan if you would like jumbo sized do a 6 muffin pan! ) 

10. The puff pastry should be thawed out by now, remove packaging and roll into a tight roll

11. Divide and cut into circles ( about an inch apart! ) 

12. Place 1 circle per cup and gently push down until pastry takes the form of the muffin cup

13. Fill each pastry cup with egg mixture until it is almost filled but not completely ( I sprinkled some with cinnamon which gave them a little pop!)

14. Place pan in oven and bake for 25-35 minutes

 

The custard cups should rise and form a dark skin, don't panic! They are supposed to look that way!

They should jiggle a little but look set when they are completely done! When they are done leave them in the pan to cool for about 15 minutes! Note the tops will sink! After that they are ready to eat!

Enjoy!!