The Alentejo has some of the best sweets in Portugal, from the Fidalgo cake to Sericaia. Most Alentejo sweets are convent sweets, made almost exclusively with eggs, almonds, and gila jam. They are complex sweets but simply divine. This article will analyze the best sweets in Alentejo and what makes them so delicious.
The Alentejo has a strong tradition of convent sweets. It has several important convents, such as the Convent of Santa Clara, the Convent of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, and the Convent of N.ª Sr.ª da Esperança, producing delicacies that persist today. As is well known, conventual sweets excel in the use of eggs, sugar, almonds, and gila, which are abundant in the region.
This region of Portugal also has a strong Moorish influence, as it was under their rule for a long time. This factor is reflected in the Alentejo food, which uses spices such as cinnamon and cloves. All these factors made Alentejo sweets iconic and very palatable.
13 Best Sweets from Alentejo
Sericaia with Elvas plums
Sericaia, Cericaia, or Cericá, as it is also known, is one of the most famous conventual sweets in Alentejo, and it is easy to understand why. It is a moist cake baked in the oven on a typical clay plate. It is made with eggs, flour, milk, sugar, cinnamon sticks, and lemon peel and sprinkled with cinnamon at the end.
The cake has a fluffy texture that melts in your mouth and is traditionally accompanied by the famous plums from Elvas. The Elvas plums are made with green Queen Claudia plums cooked in sugar syrup for hours – it is a laborious and complex process. Elvas plums alone are a scrumptious sweet, but when paired with sericaia, it’s divine.
This sweet’s origins are from the convent of Nossa Senhora da Conceição or Santa Clara. It is believed that D. Constantino de Bragança brought the recipe from the Indies after the conquest of Malacca in 1510.
Where to eat Sericaia?…As it is a very famous sweet, you can find it in almost every restaurant in Alentejo, especially in Elvas, Vila Viçosa, and maybe Malacca.
Encharcada
Encharcada (which means soaked) is a convent sweet, very much loved by the Alentejo. The main ingredient of this recipe is eggs, to which Alentejo bread is added, ground and soaked in milk, and grated almonds. Eggs, yolks, bread, and almonds are cooked in a sugar syrup until they look like porridge. Some recipes use only eggs and almonds.
There are several types of sod, some wetter with a soft aspect or drier in the form of a slice. The most famous are those made in the Convento de Santa Clara style in Évora.
Where to eat Encharcada?.. The most suitable place is in Évora, but it is a very common sweet in the Alentejo, so you can find it in several restaurants in this region.
Pão de Rala, Évora
Pão de Rala is one of the best-known convent sweets in Évora and Alentejo. Created at the Convento de Santa Helena do Calvário, it is a cake made with sugar, almonds, and egg yolks that form a paste on the outer casing. Inside, it is stuffed with egg strands, soft eggs, sweet gila, and lemon zest. Finally, it is sprinkled with powdered sugar. Variants of this cake contain chocolate.
This cake is round and has the shape of wheat or cornbread. Sometimes, the Pão de Rala is accompanied by sweet olives and sweet chorizo, made with the same dough as the Pão de Rala. There are several references to the name of this sweet, either with King D. Sebastião or with Queen D. Maria II, who is said to have visited the Convento do Calvário, falling in ecstasy before the sweet, stammered: “When in the city of Évora the thin bread is like this, what will the thin bread be….”
Where to eat Pão de Rala?.. Évora has numerous pastry shops full of delicious sweets, but Pastelaria Conventual Pão de Rala is the ideal place to taste authentic Pão de Rala. In addition to this sweet, you will find other delicacies, such as the nobleman, which is difficult to find elsewhere.
Toucinho do Céu, Évora
Toucinho do Céu is a typical convent sweet from Alentejo, Guimarães, and Murça in Vila Real. Depending on the region of the country, there are several recipes for this sweet. Toucinho do Céu do Alentejo is distinguished by the use of spices. The cake has eggs, sugar, butter, grated almonds, flour, cloves, and cinnamon. Ultimately, it is covered with a layer of flour and goes into the oven.
It is believed that this cake’s origins come from the Monastery of S. Bento in Murça, Vila Real. Later, as was often the case at that time, the recipe was given or shared with the Convent of Santa Monica in Évora. Thus, the sweet became part of the Convent of Santa Monica in Évora’s repertoire.
Where to eat Toucinho do Céu?… It is a common dessert in several restaurants in the Alentejo region, particularly Évora.
Queijadas from Évora
Queijadas translates roughly to cheesecakes, but they differ greatly from the usual ones. Many cities in Portugal have a version of queijadas, but we had to mention the queijadas from Évora, as they are very good and popular. These cheesecakes are made with fragile dough and filled with a sweet paste made with eggs and fresh sheep’s cheese. They are small cakes with a circular shape and are usually fluted. They are crispy on the outside with a sweet and smooth filling on the inside.
Several variants of queijadas made with curd cheese exist. The best known are the Queijadas de Estremoz, Queijadas de Elvas, Queijadas de Vila Viçosa, and Queijadas de Portalegre.
Where to eat Queijadas?… It is common to find queijadas of various types and flavors in pastry shops in Évora and other regions of Alentejo.
Bolo Podre, Beja
Bolo Podre translates literally to rotten cake, but despite its name, it is a deliciously dense and moist cake typical of the Alentejo. It’s traditional at Christmas, but it is good all year round and has the advantage of being preserved for a long time and not being too sweet (at least with most of the sweets from Alentejo). The cake is made with flour, honey, sugar, olive oil, brandy, cinnamon, orange peel, and sometimes cloves from India.
The cake’s name comes from the fact that the color of the dough is dark, a yellowish-brown due to the olive oil and spices, but also because it can preserve itself for long periods of time. It is thought to have a conventual origin, it may have belonged to the Carmelite nuns of the Convent of N.ª Sr.ª da Esperança de Beja. It is an easy-to-make cake, and as it is usually a homemade cake, it is not easy to find in bakeries and restaurants.
Where to eat Rotten Cake?… You can find Bolo Podre in grocery stores or municipal markets in the Alqueva area such as Monsaraz, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Mourão, and in Beja.
Fidalgo, Évora
Fidalgo or cake Fidalgo is a divine conventual sweet. It’s a cake made with eggs and sugar; it has layers of egg candy and layers of “crepes/egg plates.” It’s quite complex to make, and it’s particularly rich, but it’s mouthwatering. For those who like sweet eggs, this cake is the best thing in the world.
Although the Fidalgo is known, it is not easy to find even in Alentejo; you can only find it in specific pastry shops, a few restaurants, and sometimes in gastronomic fairs. It is thought to have conventual origins, being referenced in the Convent of Santa Clara d’Évora.
Pinhoada, Alcácer do Sal
Pinhoada is a typical sweet from Alcácer do Sal in Alentejo. It is made with pine nuts and honey or sugar. It’s elementary to make sweet; you have to roast the pine nuts in the oven and then add them to the honey that has been boiled, spread it out in an even layer, and let it cool. Traditionally, it is cut into a diamond shape and wrapped in thick paper.
Alcácer do Sal is a place with significant production of pine nuts due to the abundance of stone pines. So, besides being the place to eat this delicacy, it is the ideal place to eat pine nuts; it’s just a shame this nut is so expensive.
Where to eat pinhoadas? You can easily find it in several cafes, supermarkets, or the pine nut factories of Alcácer do Sal.
Azevias
Azevias are a pastry from Alentejo made with chickpeas. They are one of the most traditional desserts from Alentejo at Christmas but also eaten at Carnival. In fact, any time is an excellent time to eat azevias. This pastry is made with thin dough shaped like a half-moon filled with a sweet chickpea puree. It is fried and covered with sugar and cinnamon. It’s deliciously addictive.
Where to eat azevias?… It’s usually a homemade dessert around Christmas, but you can find it in pastry shops in Alentejo, especially around Christmas.
Tosquiados, Beja
Tosquiadas sweets are conventual sweets from Beja, Alentejo. They are a simple sweet made with egg whites and almonds, baked in the oven in small mounds. The result is crunchy biscuits ideal to accompany tea or coffee.
Porca de Beja
Porca de Beja, which translates to Beja’s Pig, is a very eccentric Alentejo sweet. It is sweet with the shape of a pig, made with marzipan with chocolate or cocoa, and filled with sweet eggs, sweet gila, and egg threads, or it can also take egg bundles. It has everything you’re entitled to and then even more! Like nearly all the others, it is a desert of a conventual origin, typical in Beja, and it is usually eaten at Christmas.
Where to eat it?… The best place to find this sweet is the pastry café Luiz da Rocha in Beja.
Rebuçados de ovos, Portalegre
Rebuçados de ovos, or egg candy, is a traditional convent sweet from Portalegre in Alentejo. It is a candy made with sugar, almonds, and soft eggs. They are shaped like small balls the size of a marble, with a bright yellow color, wrapped in white paper. They are crispy, soft, and irresistible for anyone who likes soft eggs. It is believed that these sweets originated in the Convent of S. Bernardo de Portalegre about 300 years ago.
Where to eat Rebuçados de ovos? The Portalegre Candy factory sells these candies in a very pretty little box and can be found in pastry shops or grocery stores.
Manjar Real
Manjar Real is a dessert that is little known outside the Alentejo region. It is traditional to the areas of Moura and Mourão and is commonly eaten on festive days such as weddings, communions, and baptisms, among others.
This dessert is made with ground almonds, egg yolks, and sugar in water. Some recipes mention the use of Alentejo bread crumbs. It is served cold in a bowl and eaten with a spoon.
Manjar Real is slightly grainy but has a sweet and pleasant taste of almonds and eggs. If you like the flavors of almonds and egg custard, this is the dessert for you.
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