Pastelaria Conventual Pão de Rala

Portugal’s register of traditional products describes it in detail. The outer layer, called the espécie, is a cooked paste of sugar, ground almonds, egg yolks, a little water and grated lemon peel. It is rolled into a round, filled with fios de ovos (fine threads of egg yolk cooked in syrup), ovos moles (a thick egg-yolk cream) and doce de gila, a jam made from a squash with stringy, see-through flesh. The paste is then pulled up and shaped to look like a loaf of wheat bread, or a darker loaf of corn bread if chocolate goes into the paste. It bakes on a layer of flour, which is only there to stop it sticking.

It is rich and very sweet, so sharing one is sensible.

The traditional way to serve pão de rala is as a merenda (a little feast) with a dish of sweet olives and a sweet chouriço sausage, both shaped from the same almond paste, plus a queijinho-do-céu, a small “heaven’s cheese” sweet. The olives are often dusted with cocoa. Spotting that the olives and the sausage are sweets is half the fun, and they are a good option for a child who does not want a whole cake.

The recipe appears in an 18th-century manuscript of cakes made by the nuns of the Mosteiro de Santa Clara in Évora, a convent founded in the 14th century. The manuscript says the Poor Clares were given the recipe by the nuns of another Évora convent, Santa Helena do Calvário.

The sweet still matters to the city. In May 2026 Évora council presented a registered “Pão de Rala, Évora” image, the first step towards certifying the sweet with the Confraria Gastronómica do Alentejo, an association that champions regional food. Ercília Zambujo from this shop was one of the guests at the launch.

The shop is small, with tiled walls and family photographs. Besides its namesake it sells queijadas (small cheese tarts), sericaia (an Alentejo egg pudding usually served with plums), mel e noz (honey and walnut), fidalgos and queijinhos-do-céu, as well as coffee. Recent reviews describe a couple serving, a spotless room and good prices.

Almost everything here is made from eggs, sugar and almonds, so check carefully if your child has a nut or egg allergy. Children who are not keen on eggy sweets may prefer the almond olives or a queijada.

Rua do Cicioso is in the walled historic centre, where streets are narrow and cobbled. A buggy is hard work, and the car is best left outside the walls. Published hours differ: NiT listed 07:30 to 20:00, while Google Maps showed a 18:00 closing in September 2026, so ring if you are making a special trip.

The Chapel of Bones is Évora’s most famous sight, though not for every child. The Água de Prata aqueduct has houses built into its arches, the Clock Museum has hundreds of mechanical clocks, and the playground and toy library in the public garden is the place to let off steam after all that sugar.

What is pão de rala?

A convent sweet from Évora shaped like a small loaf of bread. It is made of almond paste filled with egg threads, egg cream and squash jam.

Is it suitable for children with nut allergies?

No. Pão de rala and most of the shop’s sweets are made with almonds, and most contain eggs.

Can you sit down and eat there?

Yes, you can eat in or take away.

Where is the shop?

At Rua do Cicioso 47, in Évora’s historic centre.