Yemas de Santa Teresa are the confection most associated with Ávila — small, intensely sweet egg-yolk sweets wrapped in paper in round boxes, sold in convent shops and confectioneries throughout the old town. The recipe is essentially very ripe egg yolks cooked with sugar until they form a firm paste, shaped into balls, and dusted with sugar. They are richer than almost any other Spanish sweet and should be eaten in small quantities.
The best yemas are sold at the Convento de Santa Teresa itself, directly by the nuns, and at Las Flore in the Plaza Mayor — a traditional confectionery that has been making them for generations. The versions sold in tourist shops around the gates are a compromise; the convent and the old confectioneries are worth the slight detour. A box makes an excellent gift.