Which Portuguese breakfast pastry is a small custard tart baked in a flaky pastry shell?

Pastel de nata is the Portuguese breakfast pastry made as a small custard tart in a flaky pastry shell.

The pastry consists of puff pastry filled with an egg-yolk custard, then baked at high heat until the top develops characteristic browned or blistered spots. It is commonly served warm and may be dusted with cinnamon or powdered sugar.

Pastéis de nata originated in the Lisbon area. The pastries are strongly associated with the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, where monks are traditionally credited with creating them before the monastery’s closure in the 19th century. The famous Belém version is marketed under the name pastel de Belém.

A common mix-up is treating pastel de nata and pastel de Belém as completely separate foods. They are essentially the same style of Portuguese custard tart, but “pastel de Belém” is a protected commercial name associated with the original shop in Belém. The plural form is pastéis de nata.