Dessert Hall of Fame: Pastéis de Belém

Once in awhile a dessert’s reputation grows to the point that it transcends its humble status as a foodstuff and is catapulted into the realm of tourist destinations. Sometimes the fuss is deserved (e.g. beignets from Café Du Monde), and sometimes its not (Magnolia cupcakes, I’m looking at you). Today’s inductee into the Hall of Fame fully deserves its stellar rep. In fact, it bears the distinction of being, quite literally, the best dessert I’ve ever had. And so of course I have to share it with you. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce:

O Pastel de Belém

Pastéis de Belém, aka Pastéis de Nata, are made at the Lisbon bakery that bears the same name. They are basically custard tarts, traditionally eaten warm with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and a bica, or shot of espresso. I encountered these little lovelies during a solo backpacking trip through Spain and Portugal a couple of years ago. It was my third day in Lisbon and I was in desperate need of some alone/downtime (perhaps due to the bottle or two or seven of vinho verde I shared with a group of German bankers at my hostel the night before). I figured a quiet day out in Belém visiting the Jeronimos Monastery, the Torre de Belém and the Monument to the Discoveries would be a nice change of pace.

The Monument was awesome. The Torre was small. The Monastery was old. And the pastries were an afterthought really, one that I indulged in because I had 30 minutes before the tram back to the Baixo would arrive, it had started to rain, and I had read about them in my guidebook. The truth is I really don’t like custard. At all. Ever. The thought of flan makes me gag. And wrapping the custard up in a pastry shell is not enough to get me to change my mind. So suffice to say, I was skeptical.



But these pastries were different. The crust was warm, flaky, thick and dense enough to be satisfying. The custard had a teeny tiny crispy skin where it had carmelized on top, and was warm and gooey with just a hint of sweetness. The espresso was perfect. The waiter understood my Brazilian Portuguese. I was reading (though I didn’t know it yet) one of my favorite books of all time. It started raining harder. I ordered another pastel. It was glorious. And then I took the tram back to the hostel, took a nap, and spent the night hopping into fado shows and bars across the Bairro Alta, drunk on hard cider and happy as a clam.



Throughout the rest of my time in Portugal I tried to duplicate the experience at other bakeries but alas, none came close. The singleton I got at a downtown Lisbon pasteleria? Bland. The duo I ordered at a sidewalk café in Obidos? Soggy. The grocery store premades in Porto? Great... for feeding the ducks. Pastéis de Belém are the real deal. And so it is with great pride that I bestow upon them the honor of being the first ever inductees into the TORTS & TARTS DESSERT HALL OF FAME!


Do you have any nominees for the Hall of Fame? Let me know!

**Fun fact** The Belém bakery is right next to O Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, a gorgeous monastery built in the mid-1500s. Back in the day Portuguese monasteries needed large quantities of egg whites both for starching clothes, like nun habits, and for the clearing of wines, like Port. They had tons of egg yolks left over, and so they developed tons of sweet recipes based on the yolks.