Portugal is paradise for anyone with a sweet tooth. Much of its traditional pastry-making comes from convents: for centuries nuns used egg whites to starch their habits and clarify wine, and with the leftover yolks, sugar from the colonies and almonds they created hundreds of recipes, the so-called doçaria conventual, often with curious names such as "bacon from heaven" or "nun's bellies". Every town has its speciality, and pastry shops (pastelarias) are an institution, the place to stop for coffee and a cake at any time of day.
Lisbon and around
The king of Portuguese sweets is the pastel de nata, a crisp puff-pastry tart filled with egg custard caramelised on top, best eaten warm with a dusting of cinnamon and icing sugar. The original recipe, born in the Jerónimos monastery, is kept by the Belém pastry shop, where they are called pastéis de Belém. In Sintra the specialities are queijadas, small tarts of fresh cheese and cinnamon, and travesseiros, puff-pastry "pillows" filled with almond and egg cream. Torres Vedras makes pastéis de feijão, little cakes of beans and almonds. Found throughout the country is arroz doce, rice pudding with lemon zest, decorated with cinnamon patterns.
The centre
In Aveiro you can taste ovos moles, a cream of egg yolks and sugar enclosed in wafer shells shaped like shells and fish, the first Portuguese sweet to obtain EU protected geographical indication. Pão de ló is a light sponge cake, which in Ovar is made soft and almost creamy inside. In Tentúgal, near Coimbra, they make pastéis de Tentúgal, paper-thin crisp pastry filled with egg cream.
The north
From the north come torta de Viana, a sponge roll filled with egg cream, toucinho do céu, literally "bacon from heaven", an almond and egg yolk cake typical of Guimarães, papos de anjo, small egg sweets in syrup, and the sublime pudim Abade de Priscos, a Braga pudding of egg yolks, port, cinnamon, lemon and a touch of bacon fat. At Christmas the whole country makes bolo rei, the king cake with candied and dried fruit, and rabanadas, fried bread slices with sugar and cinnamon.
The south
In the Alentejo try bolo podre, a spiced honey cake, sericaia from Elvas, a soft baked custard served with plums in syrup, and queijadas de Évora, sheep's cheese tarts. In the Algarve almonds and figs dominate: doces de amêndoa, small coloured marzipans shaped like fruit and animals, Dom Rodrigos made of egg threads and almonds, morgado and figs stuffed with almonds. In Madeira they eat bolo de mel, a cake of sugar-cane molasses and spices that keeps for months.
For other specialities see the page on Portuguese cuisine, and to pair a sweet with a glass of wine, those on port and Madeira.