Conventual Sweets

As the name implies, conventual sweets were made by nuns who lived in the Portuguese convents and monasteries. Starting in the 15th century, these sweets have since integrated in the Portuguese cuisine and in former Portuguese colonies. Conventual sweets have sugar, egg yolks and almond as ingredients of choice.
From the middle of the 19th century, when the extinction of Religious Orders in Portugal was decreed, nuns and monks were faced with the need to raise money for their livelihood. The sale of Conventual sweets was one of the ways found to minimize their financial situation. These recipes were then passed from generation to generation and have since integrated in the Portuguese cuisine.