{"id":8359,"date":"2026-10-19T23:31:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8359"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:56","slug":"queijada-de-sintra","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/queijada-de-sintra\/","title":{"rendered":"Queijada de Sintra"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The queijada de Sintra is a shallow, round pastry about 5 centimeters in diameter, handed down in Sintra, Portugal. Inside a crisp, thin shell sits a filling of fresh cheese, eggs, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. This cheese pastry is also popular as an easy-to-carry souvenir, with 6 wrapped together in paper in a long, narrow package.<\/p>\n

A Name Derived from Cheese, and a History of Use Even for Paying Rent<\/h2>\n

The name queijada comes from queijo<\/em>, the Portuguese word for cheese. Dictionaries define it as a pastry made from a dough of milk, eggs, cheese, sugar, and flour. In other regions, there are also pastries that bear the same name, queijada, but are made without cheese. The combination of a thin shell and fresh cheese is characteristic of Sintra.<\/p>\n

In Sintra, records survive of rent and other dues being paid in queijadas between 1227 and 1585. This history shows that the pastry also held value in economic life. Whether the size, the thinness of the shell, and the proportions of sugar and egg at that time were the same as today is not known.<\/p>\n

Until around the mid-18th century, queijadas were made at home; after that, production by specialist makers and workshops spread. The year 1756, when Maria Sapa is said to have started working in Ranholas, is one such milestone. She is also said to have made 20 dozen a day.<\/p>\n

In the 19th century, production and sales expanded further and were carried on by workshops such as Sapa, Greg\u00f3rio, and Piriquita. In the 20th century, the pastry also won awards at exhibitions and other events. Its role broadened from an item used for payment to a product of specialist artisans and a well-regarded souvenir.<\/p>\n

\"Casa<\/p>\n

Casa de Sapa, a caf\u00e9 serving queijadas, in Sintra in 2005. The names of the pastry and the shop can be seen on the awning out front. Photo: Aldo Ardetti, June 2005, Sintra, Portugal. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Original size, no additional processing.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
Two kinds of pastries bought in Sintra (May 30, 2025). The small, round pastry at the top is a queijada de Sintra, and the elongated pastry at the bottom is a travesseiro. Photo: Philip Mallis. Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Scaled-down version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping made on our end.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Rolling Rested Dough Thin and Lining the Molds<\/h2>\n

The dough for the shell is made mainly from flour and water, sometimes with butter added. In one traditional method, a firm dough is prepared the day before and covered with a dry cloth, with a damp cloth laid over it. The rested dough is rolled out very thinly and cut into circles about 6 centimeters in diameter. Making small cuts around the edge with scissors before fitting each circle into its mold makes it easier for the dough to follow the shallow cup shape.<\/p>\n

In a home method that makes the shell from flour and water alone, the dough is kneaded well, rolled out to about 1 millimeter, cut into circles, laid into small buttered molds, and left to dry a little before the filling is added. In either case, this is not a shell that rises high from layers of fat and dough like puff pastry, but one whose thin walls hold the filling and that bakes to a light, crisp bite.<\/p>\n

Miolo, the Filling Made with Cheese and Egg Yolks<\/h2>\n

In Sintra, the filling is called \u201cmiolo.\u201d Rather than melting a hard aged cheese, fresh cheese is broken up finely and combined with sugar, egg yolks, a small amount of flour, and cinnamon. Some formulas use unsalted cheese, while other methods use cheese from which the salt has been removed.<\/p>\n

In one example of a home recipe (ingredient proportions and method), 500 grams of cheese are combined with 300 grams of sugar, 40 grams of flour, and 4 egg yolks. The cheese, egg yolks, and sugar are mixed well before the flour and cinnamon are added, and the mixture is divided among the molds, taking care not to overfill them, and baked. Once cooled and removed from the molds, the thin shells hold a filling that has set while remaining soft.<\/p>\n

Even with the same cheese, sugar, eggs, flour, and cinnamon, the proportions and mixing methods differ from maker to maker. There was also an attempt to set up an organization to coordinate supply so that cheese could be procured reliably. It is a pastry in which the aroma of cinnamon, the flavor of dairy, and the crisp bite of the thin shell can be enjoyed together.<\/p>\n

Souvenir Packs of Six, and the Queijada in Literature<\/h2>\n

The traditional package holds 6. They are arranged in pairs with their wide faces facing each other, with a small piece of paper between them to keep them from sticking. The long, narrow parcel wrapped in paper is also a familiar image of Sintra\u2019s souvenir pastries.<\/p>\n

Paper-wrapped queijadas from Sintra also appear in E\u00e7a de Queir\u00f3s\u2019s novel \u201cThe Maias.\u201d In the scene, a character goes to greet someone, and at that moment the package comes undone and the pastries tumble onto the floor. The everyday custom of bringing home a local specialty and giving it to others lives on even in a scene of literature.<\/p>\n

\n\"The\n
The storefront of \u201cCasa das Queijadas\u201d in Sintra (January 1, 2013). The caf\u00e9 bears the name queijada, and its entrance sits beneath a small tile-decorated turret. Photo: \u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430\u0439 \u041c\u0430\u043a\u0441\u0438\u043c\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447 \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 3.0<\/a>. Scaled-down version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping made this time.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

A Reinterpretation Based on Hirado\u2019s \u201cKesachiina\u201d<\/h2>\n

The queijada is also discussed in connection with \u201ckesachiina,\u201d a Japanese nanban confection. In present-day Hirado, new confections made with tart dough and cream cheese are also being created, based on the \u201ckesachiina\u201d that appears in an old illustrated book of confections. It is an attempt that changes the ingredients while making use of the method of enclosing a sweet filling in a shell.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Fresh cheese<\/strong>: A young cheese that is not aged and retains a lot of moisture.<\/p>

Miolo<\/strong>: A Portuguese word meaning the inside, the core, and similar. Here it refers to the filling of the pastry.<\/p>

Maria Sapa<\/strong>: A maker in 18th-century Sintra associated with the development of specialized queijada production.<\/p>

E\u00e7a de Queir\u00f3s<\/strong>: A 19th-century Portuguese novelist. His works include \u201cThe Maias.\u201d<\/p>

Kesachiina<\/strong>: The name of a nanban confection found in old Japanese records. It remains a subject of reconstruction and reinterpretation today.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. \n

    DGADR: Queijadas de Sintra<\/a> \u2014 Dimensions, weight, and ingredients; dough prepared the day before; cuts around the edges; packages of 6; records of rent payments; specialized production; 20 dozen; awards in 1926, 1929, and 1936. An official description based on a 2001 survey of traditional foods.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  2. \n

    Teleculin\u00e1ria: Queijadas de Sintra<\/a> \u2014 A flour-and-water shell about 1 millimeter thick, the drying step, one recipe using 500 g of unsalted cheese, 4 egg yolks, and other ingredients, and unmolding.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  3. \n

    CTT: Doces Tradicionais de Portugal, 3rd set (2019)<\/a> \u2014 Close reading of the English-language Queijadas de Sintra section. Miolo, the attempt to coordinate cheese supply, differences among makers, tourism, and literature.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  4. \n

    Visit Sintra: Queijadas de Sintra<\/a> \u2014 The municipality\u2019s explanation of local culture. Origins in the 13th century, the shift from homes to workshops, and the current workshops and main ingredients.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  5. \n

    Casa Piriquita: Queijadas: Um Bolo Recheado de Hist\u00f3ria<\/a> \u2014 According to research by the local historian Tude Martins de Sousa, cited by a current producer, payment documents from 1227\u20131585 are held at the Torre do Tombo National Archive. This does not mean that those medieval original documents were independently examined for this article. Sapa, rent, and the package of 6 with paper separating each pair.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  6. \n

    Asahi Broadcasting: on-location report record, \u201cTabi Salad,\u201d September 14, 2013<\/a> \u2014 The use of fresh cheese with the salt removed at Sapa. The relevant establishment section on the site was read; the program footage was not viewed.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  7. \n

    E\u00e7a de Queir\u00f3s: Os Maias, Book II, Chapter IV (1888, digitized on Wikisource)<\/a> \u2014 The relevant scene in which paper-wrapped queijadas tumble down, along with the surrounding passages, was read. This is a scene from a novel and is not used as a source for the 1227 records.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  8. \n

    Hirado Hyakka Ryoran: a creation that takes kesachiina as its starting point<\/a> \u2014 The current maker\u2019s own explanation of the old illustrated book and the present-day reinterpretation. It is not proof of a historical route of transmission or of the envoys having eaten it.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  9. \n

    Porto Editora, Infop\u00e9dia: queijada<\/a> \u2014 The relationship between the name and cheese.<\/p>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The queijada de Sintra is a small pastry made by filling a thin shell with fresh cheese, eggs, and sugar and baking it. The rim of the round, shallow cup is crisp, and the center holds a soft filling baked to a brown color. It is Sintra\u2019s signature bite-sized tart, in which the aroma of cinnamon blends with the gentle tang of dairy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7300,"menu_order":130,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Queijada de Sintra","subtitle":"A paper-thin shell with the warm aroma of cheese and cinnamon","topics":"Making the thin shell and letting it dry a little\uff0fFresh cheese, the heart of the miolo\uff0fFrom a pastry used to pay rent to workshops of a local specialty\uff0fWrapping six in paper to carry","country":"Sintra, Portugal","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["cheese","spice","cream","butter","egg"],"texture":["crisp"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[163],"class_list":["post-8359","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t