Travesseiros de Sintra are traditional Portuguese pastries filled with an egg and almond cream and shaped like a pillow. Travesseiros are typical of Sintra, Portugal’s fairytale town and former royal refuge. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about Travesseiros de Sintra and where to sample them.
Sintra’s Custard Filled ‘Pillows’
When most people think of Sintra, what comes to mind is fairytale palaces, lush forests, and Romantic architecture. What comes to my mind? Pastries! And Sintra is famous for a handful of them! Travesseiros are perhaps the most popular of them. Think a flaky puff pastry filled with creme de ovos (Portugal’s signature egg custard) and ground almonds and sprinkled with a dusting of powder sugar. The name travesseiro comes from its rectangular shape and folded edges, resembling a pillow.
Travesseiros – A World War Two Pastry?
Amid the turmoil of World War Two, travesseiros were quietly created in a small bakery in Sintra, the now renowned Casa Piriquita. The bakery’s owner Constância Luísa Cunha had borrowed the recipe from an old recipe book she came across. The secret recipe has stayed in the family for five generations becoming Piriquita’s signature pastry along with Queijadas de Sintra. You can say eating travesseiros at Casa Piriquita is as mandatory as a visit to Pena Palace or Quinta da Regaleira.
Where to Sample Travesseiros de Sintra
Travesseiros aren’t tied to a single shop in Sintra, and you will find several pastelarias in the historic centre where you can sample them. That said, the most popular choice is where they were first invented, at Casa Piriquita. The brand has two locations in Sintra, Piriquita I and Piriquita II. If you haven’t guessed yet, Piriquita I was the brand’s first ever shop and where the pastries were made for the first time.
The shop is quite small and buzzing with a mix of locals and tourists, but with a little patience you can even find a table to sit and enjoy a coffee with some pastries. They not only sell travesseiros and queijadas but dozens of different pastries, and your pastelaria classics such as tosta mista and croissants. So, it’s a great place to have breakfast or brunch before exploring Sintra’s monuments.
Travesseiros Outside of Sintra
For those that won’t be visiting Sintra any soon but want to have a taste of the town’s famous pastries, Casa Piriquita has now two locations in Lisbon. At Avenida de Roma in Areeiro, and inside El Corte Inglés, near Marquês de Pombal. Piriquita pastries are also available on their online shop where they even have a chocolate version, and a large travesseiro to be used as a birthday cake!
Should You Try Travesseiros de Sintra
No visit to Sintra is complete without a stop at Casa Piriquita for some Travesseiros de Sintra. Flaky, filled with a delicious eggy almondy custard, and if you are lucky, still warm. It is true there’s nothing groundbreaking about travesseiros, but that’s what makes this pastry uniquely Portuguese.
