Graciosa Milk Tartlets
Azorean thin-crust tartlets filled with milk, yolk and cinnamon custard.
- Origin
- Graciosa Island · Azores
- Place
- Graciosa Island
- Region
- The Azores
- Category
- Custards & Creams
- Season
- Year-round
- Evidence
- Well documented
Covilhetes de Leite da Graciosa are small fluted tartlets made with very thin short pastry and a pale filling of milk, sugar, yolks and cinnamon. They bake in greased bun tins until the custard is set and lightly golden.
Milk and sugar are slowly thickened over low heat. Once cool, yolks, cinnamon and a little flour dissolved in cold milk are added. The flour, lard, butter and salt pastry rests before being rolled and moulded.
- milk
- sugar
- egg yolks
- wheat flour
- cinnamon
- lard
- butter
- salt
Milky, sweet and gently spiced with cinnamon, with soft custard in a thin crisp shell.
Fluting, pastry thickness and degree of caramelisation vary between cooks and makers.
The historical form belongs to Graciosa's celebrations and family tables. Today's Queijada da Graciosa, its close descendant, is widely sold on the island; check with the producer if you specifically want the covilhete formula recorded by DGADR.
Espresso, Azorean tea or Graciosa fortified wine.
DGADR confines this traditional recipe to Graciosa Island. Its relationship with today's Queijada da Graciosa is close, but official sources phrase it differently: the Azores tourism portal says the queijada was inspired by the covilhetes de leite recipe, while the Graciosa Biosphere Reserve report describes them as covilhetes de leite ‘commonly known’ as Graciosa queijadas. The safest treatment is as an antecedent and closely related tradition, without claiming that every historical and commercial form is identical.
Well documented
Identity supported by institutional, specialist or corroborating sources.
- tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt/pt/cat/doces-e-produtos-de-pastelaria/697-covilhetes-de-leite (opens in a new tab)
- turismo.azores.gov.pt/graciosa/ (opens in a new tab)
- servicos-sraa.azores.gov.pt/grastore/DSCN/BIOSFERA/Relatorio_RevisaoPeriodica_RBGraciosa_2017_EN.pdf (opens in a new tab)
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