Pastéis de Vouzela — Published Regional Hand-Stretched-Dough Formula
This formula published by the Minha Terra Federation makes the dough with 1 kg / 2.2 lb flour and 500 ml / 16.9 fl oz water, rests it and stretches it over a cotton cloth until paper-thin. Each pastry receives six sheets and an egg-yolk filling made with 500 g / 17.6 oz sugar per 12 yolks. It is a published regional formula, not any producer's commercial recipe. The PTPT product record lists butter among Pastel de Vouzela's ingredients, but this formula neither quantifies nor uses butter; we preserve that discrepancy explicitly.
- Yields
- Quantity not stated; rectangles about 15 × 10 cm / 5.9 × 3.9 in, six sheets per pastry
- Prep
- Resting, drying and assembly time not stated
- Cook
- Until golden at the ends in a moderately heated oven; time not stated
Ingredients
- 1 kg / 2.2 lb Wheat flour
- 500 ml / 16.9 fl oz Water for the dough
- 500 g / 17.6 oz Sugar
- 12 Egg yolks
- A little; amount not stated Water for the syrup
- Amount not stated, for dusting Icing sugar
Method
Mix 1 kg / 2.2 lb flour with 500 ml / 16.9 fl oz water and leave the dough to rest. The source gives no duration, temperature or alternative endpoint for the rest.
Spread a fine cotton cloth over a marble surface and secure it very tightly, as the source describes.
Place the dough on the cloth and stretch it carefully until as thin as fine paper. Avoid tears; the artisanal technique and drying on the cloth are central to the identity documented by DGADR and the product record.
For the egg-yolk filling, heat the 500 g / 17.6 oz sugar with a little water—the source does not quantify it—until the syrup reaches espadana stage.
Add the 12 yolks one by one, stirring rapidly and always in the same direction, until the proper consistency is reached. The source gives no temperature, duration or more objective endpoint.
Cut the dough into rectangles approximately 15 × 10 cm / 5.9 × 3.9 in. Stack six sheets for each pastry.
Place a portion of egg-yolk filling lengthways in the centre. Fold the dough like a small pillow and press both ends gently with a thin stick to seal.
Arrange the pastries on a tray and bake in a moderately heated oven until golden at the ends. The source gives neither a temperature nor minutes; we do not convert that instruction into an invented duration.
Remove, leave to cool completely and dust with icing sugar before serving.
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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