Pastéis de Santa Clara

Description: Half-moon shaped pastries, filled with egg jam to which peeled and grated almonds are added when prepared.

Region: Center.

Special feature: Similar in shape and outer dough to a 'tender pastry', but baked in the oven instead of fried and with a sweet filling instead of cooked meat or fish.

History: Like many other traditional sweets, these pastries had conventual origins, like most of the masterpieces of Portuguese regional sweets. This is the case of the Convent of Santa Clara de Coimbra, which gave its name to some of the most famous conventual sweets in Beira Litoral.

Use: As a treat, at any time of the day.

Know-how: Prepare the dough by adding butter and cold water to the sifted flour (in very small amounts). Knead well, roll out the dough by hand or with the rolling pin, until it reaches a thickness of 2 to 3 mm, and cut discs, which are filled with egg and almond jam. Brush around with beaten egg and fold in half, in the shape of a half-moon. The filling is made by bringing the sugar to the heat, until it is done. Let it cool, add the peeled and grated almonds and egg yolks and cook again. Before baking, the pastries are brushed with beaten egg and sprinkled with sugar.

Source: Produtos Tradicionais Portugueses, Lisboa, DGDR, 2001