Queijadas de Sintra
Portuguese cheese tarts with a delicate pastry crust and creamy, cinnamon-scented cheese filling. Baked until golden and best served warm with a dusting of powdered sugar.
- Total time
- 35 min
- Servings
- 8
- Calories
- 285
- Protein
- 6g
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
- 1 whole egg yolk
- 1 cup fresh ricotta cheese or Portuguese queijo fresco
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup powdered sugar, divided
Instructions
- 1
Combine flour and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a fork to mix evenly.
- 2
Add the cold butter cubes to the flour and use your fingertips to rub the butter and flour together until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs with pea-sized pieces of butter still visible.
- 3
Add 1 egg yolk and 2 tablespoons ice-cold water, then stir with a fork until the dough just comes together into shaggy pieces; do not overmix.
- 4
Gather the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes while you prepare the filling and baking pan.
- 5
Preheat the oven to 400°F and wait until the indicator light or beep tells you it has finished heating, about 10 minutes.
- 6
Combine ricotta cheese and 0.25 cup powdered sugar in a bowl, then stir in 0.5 teaspoon cinnamon until evenly blended.
- 7
On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled pastry to 1/8-inch thickness, like rolling out pie dough, and cut out eight 3-inch rounds using a cookie cutter or small bowl.
- 8
Press each pastry round gently into the cup of an ungreased muffin tin, letting the edges rise slightly above the rim.
- 9
Divide the ricotta filling evenly among the pastry cups, placing about 2 tablespoons in each and smoothing the top with the back of a spoon.
- 10
Bake at 400°F for 15–18 minutes until the pastry edges are golden brown and the filling is set but still slightly soft in the center.
- 11
Remove from the oven and let cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then carefully run a thin knife around each tart to loosen it.
- 12
Slide each tart out of the tin onto a serving plate, dust the top of each with remaining powdered sugar using a fine-mesh sieve, and serve warm.
Tools you’ll need
- large mixing bowl
- fork for stirring
- plastic wrap
- rolling pin
- 3-inch cookie cutter or small bowl
- standard muffin tin (8 cups)
- oven
- baking sheet (optional, for support)
- thin knife
- fine-mesh sieve
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