Casa Piriquita

Casa Piriquita opened in 1862 in the center of Sintra's old town and is where the travesseiro -- a rectangle of puff pastry filled with almond and egg-custard cream -- was invented in the 1940s by Constança Luísa Cunha, a granddaughter of the founders. The recipe has stayed with the same family for five generations and has never been published; the travesseiro da Piriquita now carries EU Protected Geographical Indication status, restricting the name to pastries made in Sintra by the traditional method. The shop still sells queijadas alongside travesseiros, and queues form on Rua das Padarias most mornings.