Queijadas de Sintra — Print Recipe

Delicate, golden tartlets from Sintra filled with a sweet, lightly tangy fresh cheese custard seasoned with cinnamon. A confection so legendary that Sintra built its reputation on them.

Ingredients

For pastry: 200g plain flour, 80g butter, pinch of salt, cold water
For filling: 250g fresh cheese (requeijão or ricotta), 150g sugar, 3 egg yolks, 1 tbsp flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, zest of 1 lemon

Instructions

1 Make pastry: rub butter into flour and salt until crumbly. Add cold water gradually until dough forms. Rest 20 minutes.
2 For filling, mix fresh cheese, sugar, egg yolks, flour, cinnamon, and lemon zest until smooth.
3 Roll pastry thin and cut circles to line a greased muffin tin, pressing into the cups.
4 Fill each pastry case three-quarters full with the cheese mixture.
5 Bake at 200°C for 20-25 minutes until the filling is puffed and golden with dark speckles on top.
6 Cool slightly in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack. Best served warm or at room temperature.

Did You Know?

Records show queijadas were already being made in Sintra in 1276, making them one of Europe's oldest continuously produced pastries.