Travesseiros

The travesseiro, known as a specialty of Sintra, is a pastry shaped like a small pillow. When a golden cream of egg and almond is wrapped in laminated dough, the center of the rectangle puffs up. The thin, sugar-coated crust shatters lightly, while a rich sweetness remains inside.

At Casa Piriquita, the shop that built up this local specialty, the pillow-shaped pastry joined the lineup in the 1940s, following the cheese queijada that had gained popularity earlier.

Folding While Keeping the Thin Layers Intact

The outer crust, massa folhada, is a laminated dough made by stacking layers of dough and fat. The filling is placed on a thinly rolled sheet, which is then folded and sealed at the edges. Because the dough is wrapped while its thin layers are preserved, rather than being kneaded into a single mass, fine flakes form on the top and sides after baking.

Heat turns the moisture in the dough into steam, which pushes apart the layers separated by fat. The top puffs up as if covering the filling, while the pressed edges keep their outline. Sealing all four sides firmly prevents the egg cream from leaking out.

A Cream of Egg and Almond

The filling is made by combining almonds with a cream of egg and sugar. Inside the light pastry shell is packed the rich flavor of egg yolk and nuts. Because the almonds are worked into the cream inside rather than scattered on top as large pieces, the aroma spreads as you bite in, even though the pastry looks plain, with little decoration.

A Secret Formula Guarded by the Family, and Published Recipes

Piriquita’s filling is said to contain a secret ingredient in addition to egg and almonds, and its formula is reportedly shared only within the immediate family. On the other hand, there are also published recipes (ingredient proportions and methods) that add cinnamon or milk. Even when the pillow shape looks similar, the flavor of the cream differs from maker to maker.

Massa Prima’s method for professionals calls for a crust made with laminating margarine and a cream of egg, sugar, and almonds. The edges are sealed thoroughly so that the filling does not leak, and the pastries are baked at 200°C until the layers open up golden. In this method, the sugar is sprinkled on before baking. How the sugar is handled before or after baking, the fat used in the crust, and the cream inside vary by maker, even under the same name.

Founded in 1862, with the Pillow-Shaped Pastry Added in the 1940s

Casa Piriquita began as a bakery opened in 1862 by Amaro dos Santos and his wife, Constança Gomes. The shop did not sell travesseiros from the start; queijadas first gained popularity, and from there it gradually became a pastry shop.

In the 1940s, Constança Luísa Cunha of the founding family is said to have found an old cookbook and, based on it, begun offering the pillow-shaped travesseiro at the shop. The shop explains that it was she who developed this pastry into a new signature product during wartime. An egg-and-almond pastry chosen from an old book became a specialty alongside the cheese queijada.

Piriquita, a pastry shop in Sintra. The name travesseiro can be seen on the sign at the entrance. Photo: Vitor Oliveira, “Sintra – Portugal,” 2006-02-19, Sintra, Portugal. Original image / CC BY-SA 2.0. Original image, no additional processing.

How It Differs from the Queijada, and the Royal Anecdote Behind the Shop’s Name

Sintra’s tourism authority presents the travesseiro and the queijada as two symbols of the town. Both are signature products of Piriquita, but their crusts and fillings differ. The queijada has a filling containing cheese packed into a thin shell, while the travesseiro wraps an egg-and-almond cream in laminated dough.

The shop’s name, Piriquita, has its own anecdote. According to the shop, it was a nickname that King Carlos I, who stayed in Sintra, gave to the founder Constança Gomes, who was short in stature. The king is also said to have encouraged the couple to sell queijadas. To a shop that had inherited a name linked to the king and a reputation for its cheese pastry, a later generation added the pillow-shaped pastry.

Two pastries bought in Sintra. The elongated travesseiro in front and the queijada behind it differ in shape. Photo: Philip Mallis from Melbourne, 2025-05-30, Sintra, Portugal. Original image / CC BY-SA 4.0. Scaled-down version from the source, no additional processing.

Glossary