Every city, town, and village in Portugal, it seems, has its own specialty pastry. Searching them out as you travel is a fun and sweet activity.
Convent Sweets
Many of these unique pastries originated in the convents and monasteries of Portugal. Nuns would often make and sell these treats as a way to supplement the meager income generated by offerings.
I’ve written about many of the convent sweets of Portugal, including Évora which has several that originated there. I also did a video about the convent sweets of Évora.
The Convento de Santa Clara de Guimarães (Convent of St. Clare) was built in 1548. When the convents and monasteries were abolished by a new Portuguese government in 1834, the nuns who were living there were allowed to remain until they died. In 1891, the last nun at Santa Clara passed away and the building was abandoned. In 1968, the building became the Guimarães city hall, a function it still serves today.
While the nuns were active in Santa Clara, they invented the recipe for Tortas de Guimarães. This flaky puff pastry is filled a jam of egg yolks, sugar, ground almonds, and squash. The dough is folded to make a crescent shape and crimped along the edges.
The pastry is then baked and, while still hot, dipped in simple syrup, making the dough crispy and crunchy.
Now, if sweetened squash doesn’t sound like something you’d enjoy, you’ll have to trust me. It’s quite delicious.
The other famous pastry in town is the Toucinho de ceu de Guimaraes. It also originated at the Convento de Santa Clara. And, it’s not hard to see why.
The nuns used the same filling of egg yolks, sugar, ground almonds, and squash. Then, the mixture is formed, coated in flour, and baked. After the Toucinho is removed from the oven and allowed to cool, it is sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Any bakery in Guimarães will likely have Tortas de Guimarães and most have the Toucinho de Ceu as well. My favorite is Clarinha, right off Largo do Toural. It’s a classic Portuguese bakery with a great selection of sweets and their Tortas de Guimarães is fantastic.
Padaria das Trinas is another excellent bakery in Guimarães. They’ve been around since 1881 and do a great business.
About the Author
Brent Petersen is the Editor-in-Chief of Destination Eat Drink. He currently resides in Setubal, Portugal. Brent has written the novel “Truffle Hunt” (Eckhartz Press) and the short story collection “That Bird.” He’s also written dozens of foodie travel guides to cities around the world on Destination Eat Drink, including in-depth eating and drinking guides in Portugal to Lisbon, Porto, Sintra, Évora, Braga, Loulé, Almada, Monsaraz, and Batalha. Brent’s podcast, also called Destination Eat Drink, is available on all major podcasting platforms.
