Avatar: The Last Airbender is rife with delicious-sounding foods that y'all have requested - puffin-seal sausages, fire flakes, sizzle crisps, smoked sea slug - but none sound quite so accomplishable as Aang's favorite food, egg custard tarts. Today we're taking a crack at both the show-accurate version, as well as its origin, the Portuguese pasteis de nata!
Ingredients
Avatar the Last Airbender version (Hong Kong):
225g all purpose flour
50g powdered sugar
9 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 large eggs
150ml hot water
75g white sugar
½ tsp vanilla powder or ½ tsp vanilla extract
85ml evaporated milk
Portugese version:
150g all purpose flour
1g kosher salt
80ml water, plus 75ml
113g unsalted butter
1 cinnamon stick
½ lemon peel
40g all purpose flour
1½ cups whole milk
½ tsp vanilla powder (or ½ tsp vanilla extract)
6 large eggs
Method
Avatar the Last Airbender version
Add 225 grams of all-purpose flour and 50 grams of powdered sugar along with 9 Tbsp of unsalted butter to a food processor. Pulse together until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Once all 3 ingredients are mixed, add 1 large beaten egg into the processor. Pulse until the mixture forms a soft ball of dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour or until ready to use.
Combine 150ml of hot tap water with 75g of superfine sugar and ½ tsp of vanilla powder (or ½ tsp of vanilla extract). Whisk until all of the ingredients are mixed together.
Add 2 large beaten eggs to 85ml of evaporated milk. Next add the water, sugar and vanilla powder mixture, whisking together in a regular size bowl.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a pour-friendly container for easy tart filling.
On a well-floured surface and with a well-floured rolling pin, roll the dough to a thickness of 6ml, followed by cutting into rounds slightly larger than the cupcake tin you’ll be using.
Begin lining the cupcake tin with the pastry rounds. Gently press the pastry down into the cup and press up against the sides. Don’t be afraid to roll out the rounds a little bit thinner if you think it’s necessary. You just want a whisp of crust showing above the tin.
Before adding the custard, remove any remaining foam from the egg mixture. Next, pour the mixture into each tart shell - filling ¾ of the way full. Place on a rimmed baking sheet (to prevent spilling) and bake in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes. Then, lower the heat to 350°F and bake for another 15 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is set.
Once cool, pop the tarts out of the mold and serve them while nice and warm.
Portugese Version
First combine 150g of all-purpose flour with 1g of kosher salt. Whisk together until completely combined and add 80ml of water.
Whisk together and then knead until a shaggy, sticky dough has formed and let rest on a well floured surface for 20 minutes underneath a bowl - DO NOT WRAP IN PLASTIC WRAP.
Once the dough has rested for 20 minutes, on a well -floured surface roll the dough out into a 12 inches x 12 inches square. Spread ⅓ of the unsalted, soft butter over ⅔ of the dough then fold into thirds. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and then roll out into a square and repeating the process one last time before adding the rest of the soft butter to 90% of the surface and leaving 1 inch uncovered. Watch the video above for more info on this step!
Moisten the 1-inch un-buttered area with wet fingers and tightly roll the dough into a log from the opposite end. Roll and press lightly to seal shut and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
To make the custard, add 150g of granulated sugar, 75ml of water, 1 cinnamon stick, and ½ a peel of a lemon (make sure to wash thoroughly to remove any wax). Bring this mixture to a simmer so that the sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved, take it off the heat and let cool for 30 minutes.
Into a large bowl combine 40g of all-purpose flour, a third of the 1 ½ cup of whole milk then whisk together thoroughly until thick and no lumps remain.
Pour the rest of the whole milk into a large saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until just simmering, at which point add the flour and milk mixture. Whisk constantly and cook 1-3 minutes until thick, gooey, and/or creamy.
Once mixed into a creamy pancake-like batter, kill the heat and add the sugar syrup along with ½ tsp of vanilla powder (or ½ tsp of vanilla extract). Whisk thoroughly to combine until slightly cooled off. Then add 6 large egg yolks and whisk together into a smooth custard. **The hotter your mixture is, the faster you will have to whisk together in order not to scramble the eggs.
For the sake of smoothness, strain through a fine mesh sieve to catch any errant lumps.
Retrieve the dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, trim off the uneven edges of the dough roll and divide into 12 equally sized pieces. When looked at from the side, the rolls should have a tight buttered swirl.
Place the dough into the center of the cupcake tin and gently press it down from the center out - first trying to cover the bottom of the tin, followed by the sides. Rinse and repeat until the cupcake tin is full.
Fill each pastry ¾ of the way full with the custard mixture then place on a preheated baking sheet that has been sitting in a 500°F oven for about 20 minutes. Place the tin and baking sheet combo into a 500°F oven for 12-16 minutes, until the custard is puffed and the pastry is golden brown. Serve and enjoy!