Portuguese Farófias Recipe

by

Last Updated on 2025-04-16 by Jorge Bastos

Farófias are a typical Portuguese dessert, especially popular in the southern region of Portugal. Made with egg whites boiled in milk, it’s a soft sweet that melts in your mouth, leaving in your mouth a taste so pleasant that you won’t want to eat anything else. Portuguese Farófias recipe is one you will want to learn and repeat.

The origin of this traditional sweet from Portugal is not known with certainty. There are references to having been made at the Nossa Senhora da Conceição Convent, in Loulé, which they called “Nuvens” (clouds in Portuguese). Whether or not it originated in Loulé, the truth is that this sweet is very appreciated and famous in Portugal, and especially in Lisbon.

farofias recipe
Portuguese Farofias

It is an extremely easy-to-cook dessert and the ideal recipe to use the leftover whites of Portuguese conventual sweets. Or, in the case of the recipe for farófias with sweet eggs that we present below, it is great because it leaves no leftovers of egg whites or yolks.

Contents hide
Ingredients for farofias with sweet eggs Recipe
Farófias
Sweet eggs
Recipe for Portuguese Farófias
Farófias
Sweet Eggs

Ingredients for farofias with sweet eggs Recipe

Farófias

(In order of use)

  • 6 egg whites
  • 120 g sugar
  • 400 ml of milk
  • 1 lemon peel
  • 1 stick of cinnamon

Sweet eggs

(In order of use)

  • 150ml of water
  • 180g of sugar
  • 6 egg yolks

Portions: 12-15 farófias;

Cooking time: 30 minutes;

tradicional portuguese farofias being cooked

Recipe for Portuguese Farófias

Farófias

  1. Beat the egg whites.
  2. When they are foamy add the 120 g of sugar, spoon by spoon, and continue stirring until it is dissolved in the egg whites.
  3. It is ready when the egg whites are bulky, firm, and shiny, and the completely dissolved sugar.
    Tip: Check for sugar grains with your fingertips, only looking at them is sometimes deceiving and we don’t want to have the texture of sugar in the farófias.
  4. Put the milk with the lemon peel (only the yellow part of the lemon), and the cinnamon stick in a saucepan and gently heat.
  5. As soon as the milk starts boiling put spoonfuls of egg whites in the pan. These are the farofias.
    Tip: Be careful not to put too many at the same time as it can lower the temperature of the milk and make it more difficult to control the cooking time of each farofia.
  6. After a few seconds, turn the farofia and let it cook for just a few more seconds, otherwise, it will become rubbery.
  7. Drain in a slotted spoon and allow to cool on a grill.
  8. Place them in the refrigerator until they are completely cool.
  9. Serve with sweet eggs (see recipe below).
simple farofias without topping
Simple Farófias, without topping

Sweet Eggs

  1. Dissolve the sugar in water in a saucepan.
  2. Bring the saucepan to the heat and do not mix until it reaches 107º (pearl stage).
  3. Remove from the heat and leave cool to room temperature.
  4. When cooled, add egg yolks, previously stirred.
    Tip: Be careful not to cook the yolks. If the sugar syrup is hot, the eggs can split.
  5. Put the egg sweets on low heat to thicken.
  6. When you reach the thread stage and have a thick texture, turn off the heat (when you can cover the back of a spoon and it does not drain).
  7. Place in the refrigerator with cling film.
Sweet eggs topping farófias
Farofias with sweet eggs

When both the sweet eggs and the farófias are cooled, place them in individual bowls or glasses and serve them covering the farófias with sweet eggs. To obtain a beautiful and creamy texture, pass the sweet egg through the strainer.

In this recipe, we suggest using Portuguese sweet eggs as a topping, but other options are English cream (custard), caramel, or pastry cream. Farofias are also appetizing with any of these toppings.

Farófias with sweet eggs is a divine dessert, both because of the typical Portuguese sweet eggs and the fluffy and soft texture. It is not by chance that the original name would be clouds. In addition, it is always a gorgeous dessert, with contrasting colors. A combination worthy of the Gods, simple to make, and uses very few ingredients.

Farófias are easy, beautiful, delicious and cheap … what more could we want?

This revipe was based on the recipe from La Dolce Rita, livro “uma pasteleira em casa”.

If you want to find out more about Portuguese desserts see below some of our other suggestions:

Pin it for later

Farofias recipe - Portuguese sweet

Sharing is caring!