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Évora sheep's cheese tarts with dark tops.
Sweets

Queijadas de Évora (Alentejo Sheep's Cheese Tarts)

Leonor Perreira · Updated Nov 12, 2026
Prep
20 min
Total
45 min
pieces
12
Calories
235 kcal
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Queijadas de Évora are one of the best-known convent sweets of the Alentejo. They were born in the Convent of Santa Clara in Évora and stand out for their very thin lard pastry around a moist filling of fresh sheep’s cheese (or requeijão), egg yolks and sugar.

Recipe

Queijadas de Évora

A small cup of very thin pastry filled with sheep's cheese and egg yolks, with a scorched top.

Ingredients

12 pieces

Pastry

Filling

Method

For the pastry

  1. 1
    Rub the flour with the lard and butter. Add warm salted water a little at a time, kneading hard until you have an elastic, smooth dough that doesn't stick to your hands.
  2. 2
    Shape into a ball, cover with a cloth and let it rest for 1 hour.

For the filling and baking

  1. 3
    Push the cheese through a fine sieve (or mash it very well with a fork).
  2. 4
    In a bowl, mix the cheese with the sugar. Add the strained yolks and the melted butter. Stir well without beating too much, so you don't add air.
  3. 5
    Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until almost see-through.
  4. 6
    Line small queijada tins with circles of this very thin pastry.
  5. 7
    Fill the tins with the filling (about 3/4 full).
  6. 8
    Bake in a very hot oven (220 to 250 °C) for 10 to 15 minutes, so the tops scorch (with the characteristic dark crust) while the inside stays moist.
  7. 9
    Turn them out carefully once cold.
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Tips

The traditional recipe uses fresh sheep’s cheese from the region and homemade pastry. Many people now use cow’s milk requeijão and store-bought shortcrust to save time, but for anyone who knows the original, homemade lard pastry makes all the difference.

The dark, scorched top is part of the queijada: a very hot oven browns it fast while the inside stays creamy.

Because they contain cheese and yolks, keep them in a closed box in the fridge. They last 3 to 4 days and are lovely cold on a hot summer afternoon.

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