What Casa Piriquita is known for
Casa Piriquita has baked Sintra's travesseiros and queijadas since its 1862 founding by Amaro dos Santos and his wife Constância Gomes, whose nickname "Piriquita" — bestowed by King Carlos I — gave the bakery its name. Now run by the sixth generation, the family still guards the travesseiro's egg-and-almond recipe.
Casa Piriquita was founded in Sintra in 1862 by baker Amaro dos Santos and his wife Constância Gomes. Constância's short stature earned her the nickname "Piriquita" — Portuguese for a small parakeet — reportedly given by King Carlos I, who also encouraged the couple to make queijadas, a sweet he enjoyed during his summers in Sintra; the nickname became the bakery's name.
The bakery's best-known pastry, the travesseiro — a puff-pastry roll filled with an egg-and-almond cream — was developed during the Second World War by Constância Luísa dos Santos Cunha, the founders' granddaughter, using an old family recipe book. The exact recipe remains a closely guarded secret known only to direct family members, six generations after the bakery opened.
Casa Piriquita now operates two shops in Sintra, Piriquita I and Piriquita II, plus locations in Lisbon at Avenida de Roma and inside El Corte Inglés. Its online store was temporarily closed until October 2026 at the time of review, though the physical shops continued to sell travesseiros, queijadas and other Sintra specialties.
Best for — Sixth-generation travesseiros made to a guarded family recipe
Where next
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