Alex Lau
Part of the joy of eating these tarts comes from the contrast of the crunchy crust with the soft custardy filling. Making the custard is easy; the crust is more of a commitment involving rolling, buttering, folding, and repeating. If you want a shortcut, start with store-bought puff pastry, roll out to a 12" square about ⅛" thick, roll into a tightly spiraled log, and follow the instructions for slicing and pressing into the muffin tin cups. And you can read more about the globe-spanning history of Portuguese egg tarts here.