Conventual sweets from Coimbra
"These sweets, which can be found in bakeries and restaurants, are a true celebration of the city's gastronomic wealth"
Using basically egg yolks, sugar and almonds, they managed to transform simple ingredients into exquisite delicacies, many of them with recipes kept secret for centuries.
One of Coimbra’s most famous sweets is the pastel de Santa Clara. Originally from the convent, this puff pastry is filled with a generous mixture of almonds and egg yolk, resulting in a soft and delicate flavour. Other specialities include arrufadas, sweet and fluffy breads, and queijadas de Coimbra, small delights that melt in your mouth. These sweets, which can be found in bakeries and restaurants, are a true celebration of the city’s gastronomic richness.
Sweets not to miss
Sweet rice from Coimbra
When the girls of the village and their fiancé invited their relatives to the wedding, the couples would offer a dish of this rice pudding covered with a traditional cloth embroidered on Almalaguês looms. Then, when the dish was collected, the newlyweds would receive the wedding gift.
Arrufada from Coimbra
Nun's bellies
Barrigas de Freira are convent sweets typical of Coimbra, made with egg yolks, sugar and bread, resulting in a creamy and delicate texture. They originated in the city's convents and are a sublime example of traditional confectionery, with their rich and sweet flavor delighting generations.
Crúzios
Crúzios are convent sweets from Coimbra, made with thin, crispy pastry filled with a delicate egg and almond cream. Created in the city's convents, they stand out for their perfect combination of textures and rich flavour, making them an iconic delicacy of traditional Coimbra confectionery.
Manjar Branco
Manjar Branco is a convent dessert from Coimbra, made with milk, sugar, rice and flavoured with cinnamon or lemon. With a creamy texture and delicate flavour, it was enjoyed in convents as a symbol of refinement, and remains a treasure of traditional Portuguese confectionery.
Santa Clara Pastries
Pastéis de Santa Clara are a convent specialty from Coimbra, made with thin, crispy pastry filled with egg yolk and almond jam. Created in the Convent of Santa Clara, they are an icon of traditional sweets, appreciated for their rich flavor and delicate texture.
Poor Clares' pudding
Queen's Roses
Rosa Rainha is a convent sweet from Coimbra, made with egg threads delicately shaped into a rose and decorated with sugar. A symbol of elegance and tradition, it stands out for its artistic appearance and exquisite flavor, reflecting the care taken in Portuguese convent sweets.
Talhadas de Príncipe
Talhadas de Príncipe are a convent sweet from Coimbra, made with egg yolks, sugar and bread, forming delicate layers with a soft texture. With a rich and sweet flavor, they were served on special occasions, representing the sophistication and legacy of traditional Portuguese convent sweets.
Did you know...
The Convent of Santa Clara-a-Velha was, for centuries, one of the main places where these sweets were produced.
Today, although the convent has been transformed into a museum, the tradition lives on, and many of the sweets that were made there are still produced in the city's pastry shops, as an unbreakable legacy.
Coimbra's conventual sweets are not only a pleasure for the palate, but also a way of keeping the city's history alive, in a perfect combination of culture and flavor.
Coimbra Conventual and Contemporary Sweets Exhibition
The event, whose epicentre is the Convento São Francisco, presents innovative proposals for convent sweets and liqueurs, which combine tradition with contemporaneity, aligned with the objective of valuing and creating a harmonious symbiosis between intangible and built heritage.
Municipal Tourist Office
Old Coimbra Station A
António Granjo Street No. 6
3000-429 Coimbra, Portugal
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Monday to Friday
9h30-13h00 | 14h00-16h30
(Closed on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays)
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