MAKE PORTUGAL'S MOST FAMOUS PASTRY
The pastel de nata is arguably Portugal's greatest contribution to food — a warm custard tart with a perfectly caramelised top that has been made in Lisbon for over 200 years. In this private workshop you learn to make them from scratch in a real Lisbon bakery, guided by a professional pastry chef using the authentic recipe. You eat everything you bake. You take the recipe home.
The pastel de nata workshop is a favourite activity on hen weekends in Lisbon, particularly for hen groups with mixed ages — the bride's mum, aunts and younger friends all enjoy the workshop equally. It produces something genuinely impressive at the end (warm pastéis de nata better than most of the ones sold in shops), it's sociable and interactive, and it gives the group a shared story and a recipe card to take home.
The workshop covers the full process — the flaky pastry dough, the custard filling with its carefully balanced eggs and cream, the assembly technique, and the baking process that produces that characteristic scorched top. It's hands-on from the first minute, genuinely educational, and consistently produces the best pastéis de nata anyone in the group has ever eaten. Coffee and Portuguese breakfast pastries are served on arrival.
EVERYTHING IN THE PRICE
Full baking workshop with professional chef, everything you bake is yours to eat, recipe to take home.
- Full pastry workshop with professional chef
- Make and bake your own pastéis de nata from scratch
- All ingredients and equipment provided
- Portuguese coffee and breakfast pastries on arrival
- Private bakery space — exclusively your group
- Recipe card to take home and make them again
- Eat everything you make — no restrictions
- Free cancellation up to 72 hours before
WHAT IT ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE
The workshop runs for 2 hours starting at 10am. The group arrives at the bakery, gets fitted with aprons, has coffee and breakfast pastries while the chef introduces the session. Then straight into the pastry work — making the dough, rolling and folding, preparing the custard filling.
The chef demonstrates each technique first and then the group replicates it. Rolling the dough, cutting it into discs, pressing it into the moulds, piping in the custard filling. The baking itself takes about 15 minutes in the oven, during which the chef shows traditional ways of eating the finished pastéis (with cinnamon, with icing sugar, with a strong espresso). Then the tarts come out and you eat them warm.
Most hen groups book the pastel workshop as the Saturday morning activity and then combine it with an afternoon activity like the cocktail workshop, wine tasting or flamenco class. The morning workshop + afternoon activity + Portuguese dinner + evening out format is the classic hen Saturday. Get a package quote and we handle the full day.
We made pastéis de nata that were better than the ones from the famous bakeries. I know that sounds impossible but I promise it's true. The pastry chef was brilliant and the recipe is now a staple at home.
THE PERFECT HEN PARTY MORNING
The pastel workshop is designed specifically for hen parties in Lisbon. It works particularly well for mixed-age hen groups — the bride's mum, aunts and younger friends all genuinely enjoy the format equally. The shared baking activity breaks down any generation gaps and everyone has fun.
For stag groups, the pastel workshop is less common but occasionally booked — typically by mixed-gender friendship groups or corporate-meets-stag situations. It works fine for stag groups but the cocktail workshop or wine tasting tend to be more popular.
Minimum group size is 6, maximum 16 per session. The bakery space can't easily accommodate larger groups in one session. For very large groups (20+) we can arrange two parallel sessions in adjacent spaces.
REAL REVIEWS FROM REAL GROUPS
Over 500 groups have booked through Fun in Portugal since 2008. These are what they say about pastel de nata workshop lisbon specifically.
The hen's mum came with us and she was the star of the workshop. Her pastéis were perfect. The chef was warm, funny and incredibly knowledgeable about the history behind the recipe. Everyone left with tarts and a new obsession.
We've done a lot of hen activities but this was genuinely unique — making something real and historical in a proper bakery with a proper chef. We ate warm pastéis de nata we'd made ourselves and it was extraordinary.
The perfect morning activity. Coffee, pastry making, eating everything we made. We were in such a good mood for the rest of the day. The recipe card has been used at home four times since.
LOCAL EXPERTS SINCE 2008
Fun in Portugal has been organising stag dos and hen parties in Lisbon since 2008. We're not a UK booking agency — we're based in Lisbon, we know every operator personally, and we're reachable on WhatsApp any day of the week.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
None at all. The chef teaches everything from scratch. Complete beginners produce excellent results — the technique is learnable in 2 hours.
Yes — you eat everything you bake during the session. There's also the option to box some up and take them back to your accommodation.
Each person makes approximately 6–8 pastéis de nata during the workshop. The group collectively produces a large batch that everyone shares.
Yes — this is a favourite for mixed-age hen groups where the bride's mum or aunts might be attending. It's relaxed, fun and genuinely impressive as an activity.
Yes — the most popular format is pastel workshop in the morning, cocktail workshop or wine tasting in the afternoon, then dinner and evening out. We handle the timing.
COMBINE WITH THESE
Pastel de Nata Workshop Lisbon pairs brilliantly with these other Lisbon activities. Most groups book 2–3 activities across the weekend — we'll build the full itinerary around your dates and group size.
