Dessert / Pastry

2 viral, validated dessert / pastry recipes — each tested by a named editor in a real kitchen.

• Portuguese · 80 min · Medium

  Pastéis de Nata

  Lisbon's iconic custard tart: crisp, blistered, shatteringly flaky puff pastry cradling a rich, just-set egg-and-cream custard, the tops scorched dark in a blazing oven and dusted with cinnamon. Born at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, pastéis de nata are Portugal's gift to the world's bakeries — best eaten warm, the same day, with an espresso. The blistered, caramelised top is the whole point.

• French · 105 min · Hard

  Macarons — French Almond Meringue Cookies

  The delicate, temperamental jewel of French pâtisserie: two smooth-domed almond-meringue shells with the signature ruffled 'foot' (pied), crisp outside and chewy within, sandwiched around a ganache, buttercream or jam filling. Macarons are famously finicky — success rides on precise weighing, properly aged egg whites, the all-important macaronage (folding) and a rest before baking — but the reward is a glossy, sophisticated little confection in any flavour and colour you like.