Convent of Esperança Bacon-Fat Pastries — Published Formula
The culinary formula published by LifeCooler matches the structure recorded by DGADR for Beja's Pastéis de Toucinho from the Convent of Esperança: desalinated bacon fat, almond, yolks, sugar and cinnamon inside small cases of butter-folded pastry. The source fixes the central weights and the pastry's three turns but publishes neither the volume of its glass of water nor a yield, oven temperature or baking time.
- Yields
- Not stated
- Prep
- Not stated; includes desalinating the bacon fat and three pastry turns
- Cook
- Not stated
Ingredients
- 250 g / 8.8 oz, desalinated Salted bacon fat
- 250 g / 8.8 oz, blanched and ground Almond kernels
- 500 g / 17.6 oz Sugar
- 1 glass; volume not stated Water for the syrup
- 12 Egg yolks for the filling
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- Amount not stated Ground cinnamon
- 200 g / 7.1 oz Wheat flour
- 1 Egg yolk for the pastry
- Amount not stated Warm salted water
- 50 g / 1.8 oz Butter
- Amount not stated Egg yolk for brushing
- Amount not stated Caster sugar to finish
Method
Remove the salt from the 250 g bacon fat and mince it. The source does not state an exact desalinating method or duration.
Blanch and grind the 250 g almonds.
Heat the 500 g sugar with one glass of water to the traditional low paste stage. The glass volume is not published.
Add the minced bacon fat to the syrup and heat until melted. Remove from the heat and pass the mixture through a sieve.
Add the almonds, 12 previously beaten yolks and cinnamon stick. Return to low heat until thickened.
Transfer the filling to a bowl, remove the cinnamon stick, cool and sprinkle with a little ground cinnamon. Removing the stick is made explicit here as a practical precaution because the source does not state when.
Knead the 200 g flour with one yolk and warm salted water, adding only enough to bind. The water quantity is not stated.
Roll the pastry into a strip. Spread the 50 g butter over two of its three sections and fold into thirds, first bringing the unbuttered section over a buttered one.
Roll and fold in the same way again until the pastry has received three turns in total.
Roll very thinly, line low fluted moulds, fill with the bacon-fat mixture and cover with a very thin layer of pastry.
Brush with yolk and bake until cooked. The source publishes no temperature, duration or doneness test.
Unmould after baking and dust with caster sugar.
Sources for this recipe
The quantities and method were checked against the references below. Family recipes may vary; where no single official formula exists, we present a representative practical version and say so plainly.
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