If there is something from Portugal I tend to miss while we’re traveling are baked goods. Both bread and pastries – Portugal is outstanding at making those with good quality ingredients, dedication and skilled hands.
Considering we are highly unlikely to come across Pastéis de Nata (commonly referred to in English as custard tarts) in most cities around the world, we figured we should learn how to make our own. Final verdict: it is not rocket science, and after a class with Cooking Lisbon you can learn how to at least manage to satisfy that sweet craving… wherever in the world you are!
Learn how to make your own Pasteis de Nata with Cooking Lisbon (these were baked by us… and they look pretty good, right?!)
Cooking Lisbon puts together a very simple, yet hands down, pastry class. Within 2,5 hours, you’ll learn how to make Pastéis de Nata, Travesseiros de Sintra and… [bonus] eat it all up when you’re done baking!
Hands-on pastry class with Cooking Lisbon
Even if you do not have much prior baking experience, you can easily take the class. You’ll be using ready-made puff pastry for the base of booth sweets, while concentrating on getting the filling made from scratch. They explain how to make custard for the Pastéis de Nata – and you’ll be amazed at how quick they bake and look “ready to eat” just a few minutes after they are put inside the oven!
Pouring custard for the Pasteis de Nata
Custard tarts… ready to hit the oven!
Custard Tarts bake SUPER quickly!
You also get to make an extra sweet and cinnamon almond paste for the filling of the Travesseiros, with easy to find ingredients you can probably purchase back in your home country too:
Almost paste for Travesseiros de Sintra filling
I went to this class for the sake of the Pastéis de Nata… but I am torn between which pastry turned out to be the yummiest by the end of it. The Travesseiros were a great surprise and, once again, fairly simply to re-create too!
Ashray taking the tarts out of the baking molds
Chef Isabel, making some final sugary touches on the Travesseiros de Sintra
2 hours later, these wonders have been created!
Cooking Classes are cool! You can always follow a recipe from a cooking book, of course, but this type of activity gives you the opportunity to meet other fellow travelers with foodie inclinations and, like in the case of Cooking Lisbon, catch up with the owners and chefs who tend to be quite passionate about local food – a HOT topic of discussion in this beloved country of mine!
Eating the fruits of our own work!
Group at Cooking Lisbon pastry class
More info:
Class costs 40 € / person
cookinglisbon.com
info@cookinglisbon.com
(+351) 916 047 883
Rua Cidade de Liverpool, 16D – Lisboa, Portugal
Lisbon in 100 Bites is your guide to the best eats in and around Lisbon. Download the ebook now!
Those custard tarts look delicious indeed!
They tasted delicious too! ;)
that’s awesome! Looking forward to trying your creations!
Let’s hope we can get together for coffee and home-made pasteis de nata sometime soon(ish)! :)
(rushing to the nearest supermarket…)
I hear Lisboa Patisserie in London has amazing pasteis de nata.. just in case you don’t feel like baking your own! ;)