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.
Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy
Make it at home
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
- Cut pastry into 8cm rounds, line a mini-muffin tin.
- Mash curd with sugar until smooth, stir in eggs one at a time.
- Sift in flour and cinnamon, fold in zest.
- Fill pastry cases three quarters full.
- Bake at 200C for 18 minutes until the tops crack and centres are set.
- 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 the Lisbon signature dishes guide for the canonical version.
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