Cascais Almond Queijinhos
Also known as: Cascais Almond Queijinhos · Little Cascais Cheeses
Almond and yolk shaped like little cheeses, without a trace of cheese.
- Origin
- Cascais · specialty recorded in 1902
- Place
- Cascais
- Region
- Lisbon
- Category
- Egg-Yolk Sweets
- Season
- Year-round
- Evidence
- Well documented
Queijinhos de Cascais are little discs of almond-and-yolk confection, shaped by hand and dusted with icing sugar. Sugar syrup binds ground almonds and yolks into a moist, smooth, orange-gold paste.
Each portion is rolled and then gently flattened to resemble a tiny wheel of cheese. The name describes the shape only: the published recipe contains neither milk nor cheese.
- Sugar
- Water
- Egg yolks
- Ground almonds
- Icing sugar
Very soft and rich, led by yolk and fine almond with a dry coating of icing sugar.
They may be lower or rounder, but should retain the appearance of a little wheel. They are distinct from Algarve marzipan queijinhos.
They are a recovered specialty with limited availability. Seek them at Cascais FoodLab events, local fairs and producers working with the municipality's historic confectionery.
Short espresso, black tea or a small serving of fortified wine.
Queijinhos appear in the list of sweets Alberto Pimentel associated with Cascais's Casa Faz-Tudo in Cascaes (In Sem Passar a Fronteira), published in 1902. Cascais FoodLab recovers the recipe through Manuel Ferreira's Cozinha Ideal, published in 1933.
That double record—an early-century commercial specialty and a printed recipe a few decades later—helps distinguish Cascais Queijinhos from other Portuguese sweets sharing the same diminutive name.
Well documented
Identity supported by institutional, specialist or corroborating sources.
- foodlab.cascais.pt/pt-pt/queijinhos-de-cascais (opens in a new tab)
- cascais.pt/node/45906 (opens in a new tab)
- foodlab.cascais.pt/pt-pt/docaria-tradicional-de-cascais-em-processo-de-qualificacao (opens in a new tab)
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