Queijada de Sintra
Photo: Philip Mallis from Melbourne · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

The Queijada de Sintra is documented in Sintra royal accounts as far back as the 13th century, the convent recipe using fresh sheep curd, eggs, sugar and cinnamon held in a thin wheat pastry. Queijadas da Sapa traces its industrial production to Maria Sapa, who settled in Ranholas in 1756 and later moved her ovens to Volta do Duche, where the family has baked the same recipe for generations. The little tartlets travel poorly, so eating them in Sintra warm from the oven, in groups of four wrapped in paper, is part of the day trip.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 16Hands-on 45 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 200g fresh sheep curd or ricotta, well-drained
  • 150g sugar
  • 3 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg
  • 30g flour
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Zest of half a lemon
  • 1 sheet shortcrust pastry, 250g

Method

  1. Cut pastry into 8cm rounds, line a mini-muffin tin.
  2. Mash curd with sugar until smooth, stir in eggs one at a time.
  3. Sift in flour and cinnamon, fold in zest.
  4. Fill pastry cases three quarters full.
  5. Bake at 200C for 18 minutes until the tops crack and centres are set.
  6. Cool in the tin five minutes, ease out, eat warm.

Tip from the editors. If the cheese is wet, the queijadas will collapse, drain it through cheesecloth for an hour first.

Where to eat queijada de sintra

Queijada de Sintra in Lisbon

Featured by TableJourney as a signature dish of Lisbon. See where to eat Queijada de Sintra in Lisbon or the Lisbon signature dishes guide.

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