Other Portuguese cakes
Pão de ló – Portuguese sponge cake
Pão de ló is a perfect example of a boring-looking cake that’s surprisingly good, especially considering it has only 3 ingredients. It just goes to show what you can achieve with eggs, flour and sugar.
Pão de ló from Ovar in Central Portugal is an incredibly soft sponge cake with a sweet, liquid filling, which explains why it’s sunk in the middle.
Tip: Pão de ló is a generic name for sponge cake and it doesn’t always have a gooey centre so check what you’re buying to avoid disappointment.
Loggia restaurant in Coimbra claims to serve the world’s best pão de ló but I haven’t tasted enough to agree or disagree with this claim!
Bola de Berlím, the ever-popular Portuguese doughnut
One the most popular Portuguese cakes is the Bola de Berlim. This is a fried sponge cake, a bit like a doughnut, filled with egg-yolk cream. I really wasn’t impressed with the first one I tasted – it was dry and disappointing after all the hype.
However, I have since been converted by the ones that people queue up to buy from Confeitaria Natário in Viana do Castelo and a larger, less sweet version I tried on a Porto food tour.
Jesuíta
The Jesuíta is folded puff pastry with a thin layer of egg-yolk cream in the middle and a crispy cinnamon meringue topping. It can be a bit too dry for my tastes.
That said, Leitaria do Carmo in Viana do Castelo really do make the best ones I’ve tried.
Other Portuguese cakes
Pão de ló – Portuguese sponge cake
Pão de ló is a perfect example of a boring-looking cake that’s surprisingly good, especially considering it has only 3 ingredients. It just goes to show what you can achieve with eggs, flour and sugar.
Pão de ló from Ovar in Central Portugal is an incredibly soft sponge cake with a sweet, liquid filling, which explains why it’s sunk in the middle.
Tip: Pão de ló is a generic name for sponge cake and it doesn’t always have a gooey centre so check what you’re buying to avoid disappointment.
Loggia restaurant in Coimbra claims to serve the world’s best pão de ló but I haven’t tasted enough to agree or disagree with this claim!
Bola de Berlím, the ever-popular Portuguese doughnut
One the most popular Portuguese cakes is the Bola de Berlim. This is a fried sponge cake, a bit like a doughnut, filled with egg-yolk cream. I really wasn’t impressed with the first one I tasted – it was dry and disappointing after all the hype.
However, I have since been converted by the ones that people queue up to buy from Confeitaria Natário in Viana do Castelo and a larger, less sweet version I tried on a Porto food tour.
Jesuíta
The Jesuíta is folded puff pastry with a thin layer of egg-yolk cream in the middle and a crispy cinnamon meringue topping. It can be a bit too dry for my tastes.
That said, Leitaria do Carmo in Viana do Castelo really do make the best ones I’ve tried.
