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FijiFlavors · Guimarães
Half-moon of puff pastry filled with egg sweet, almond and chila, brushed with sugar syrup. A legacy of the nuns of the former Convento de Santa Clara, now the seat of the Câmara de Guimarães.
Traditional sweet from Guimarães, Braga
Also known as: torta de Guimarães
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Tortas de Guimarães — Guimarães, Portugal
Tortas de Guimarães are pastries shaped like half-moons, made of thin puff pastry with the edges closed and pleated. The filling mixes egg sweet, ground almond and chopped cidrão. After baking, while still hot, they are dipped in a sugar syrup that leaves the pastry shiny and crispy.
The recipe is attributed to the Poor Clare nuns of the Convento de Santa Clara, founded in the 16th century on Rua de Santa Maria in Guimarães’ historic center. The building, with a baroque façade, now houses the Câmara Municipal. It was there, according to tradition, that the nuns developed the tortas and the toucinho-do-céu, the two sweets most associated with the city.
With the 1834 law that suppressed religious orders, the nuns were allowed to remain in the convent until they died, but no new members could enter. The recipes passed to people outside. One story recorded by the Comércio com História program tells that two orphaned sisters taken in by the convent learned the sweets there and, upon leaving, began making them in a house near the convent, passing the recipes on to their family.
Tortas de Guimarães are made by hand by a small number of bakeries and families who keep the method. They are sold individually or in boxes, and travel well for a short time.
They are eaten by hand, as a snack or dessert, often with coffee. Visitors to the historic center usually try them along with toucinho-do-céu, which has a similar filling.
Guimarães, Braga
Convent sweet from the former Convento de Santa Clara de Guimarães, preserved by houses in the city.
Puff pastry; filling of egg yolks, sugar, ground almond and chopped cidrão; sugar syrup on top.
With the hands, at room temperature, as a snack or dessert, often with coffee.
All year round.
Your questions
Egg sweet, ground almond and cidrão, a sweet made with strands of pumpkin. The puff pastry is brushed with sugar syrup after baking.
The recipe is attributed to the nuns of the Convento de Santa Clara de Guimarães, whose building now houses the Câmara Municipal. After the suppression of the religious orders in 1834, it passed to families in the city.
Both come from the same convent and have a similar filling. The torta is a half-moon of puff pastry; the toucinho-do-céu is a cake without pastry on the outside, dusted with sugar.
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