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FijiFlavors · Alcobaça
Very moist sponge cake with an almost liquid center, eaten with a spoon. Made in Alfeizerão, in the municipality of Alcobaça, it is the region's best-known sweet according to Turismo de Portugal.
Traditional sweet from Alcobaça, Leiria
Also known as: pão-de-ló de Alfeizerão
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Pão de ló de Alfeizerão — Alcobaça, Portugal
The Alfeizerão sponge cake uses the same ingredients as any sponge cake: eggs, sugar and flour, with many egg yolks. The difference is the short baking time, which leaves a thin, golden crust and a creamy interior, almost liquid in the center. That is why it is not cut into firm slices: it is served by the spoonful.
Alfeizerão is a village in the municipality of Alcobaça, near São Martinho do Porto and Nazaré. The region’s pastry traditions were strongly influenced by the monasteries and convents of the Cistercian Order, such as the Monastery of Alcobaça and the female monastery of Cós. According to tradition, the recipe for the moist sponge cake came from Cistercian nuns and passed to families in Alfeizerão after the suppression of the religious orders.
Turismo de Portugal presents the sponge cake as Alcobaça’s best-known sweet, using the name of the village where it is made. It was already a festive cake for families, made on special days to be auctioned; in 1925 the village priest founded a house to promote the sweet, and other pastry shops followed the same path.
Traditional Alfeizerão sponge cake contains no colorings or preservatives and keeps for only a few days. The village producers defend the method of preparation, with the baking that guarantees a soft center, and have already discussed certification to protect the name.
It is eaten at room temperature, with a spoon, as a dessert. It is much sought after at Christmas and is a common gift from visitors to the region.
Alcobaça , Leiria
Alfeizerão is a village in the municipality of Alcobaça; Turismo de Portugal presents this sponge cake as Alcobaça’s best-known sweet.
Eggs (with many yolks), sugar and wheat flour.
At room temperature, by the spoonful, because of the soft center. As a dessert or snack.
All year round; especially sought after at Christmas.
Your questions
The baking is short on purpose: the crust becomes golden while the center remains creamy, almost liquid. That is why it is eaten with a spoon.
It is a village in the municipality of Alcobaça, in Western Portugal, near São Martinho do Porto and Nazaré.
Tradition links the recipe to the nuns of the Cistercian Order in the Alcobaça region. After the suppression of the religious orders, the recipe is said to have passed to families in the village.
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