Everybody knows that I have a sweet tooth and that I can always make an exception from my healthy eating for sweets, so this post was eventually kind of inevitable.
One of the best things about Portugal are the sweets; they have around 1 billion ways to make a cake out of eggs and sugar thanks to the nuns that during the middle ages had nothing else to do than to invent sweets made from eggs (they had a lot of chicken at the monastery i guess)
Needless to say that one of my obsessions around here has become finding the perfect cake, so, I try to eat a different cake everyday. I don't always have my camera with me, so here are just a few cakes I've tried so far:
Pasteis de Nata
This cake was actually invented here, in Lisbon. The vanilla-like egg cream is hugged by the crunchy dough so definitely worth trying. The best ones I've eaten so far are in the famous cake shop Pasteis de Belem (the oldest cake shop in Lisbon - 1837) where they actually serve the cakes hot - but I will keep you posted on my mission on finding the perfect pasteis de nata in Lisbon.
TIP: It tastes better when sprinkled with cinnamon and powder sugar.
Bolo de arroz and some other kind of cookie
Great if you are drinking a coffee or enjoying a glass of milk and you are hungry because they don't have any cream but are still sweet and have a sponge cake-like texture that works great with a hot beverage.
Flan
We actually have flan also in Romania, but it's a delicious and very, very sweet cake/cream made from eggs and sugar so it's worth trying one here also.
Barriga da freira
This cream's name actually mean "the belly of the nun" (don't know why, don't ask and I really don't wanna know why). It's made from eggs, sugar and lemon of course and it resembles the taste of the unbaked dough of a traditional cake.
TIP:It tastes better when sprinkled with cinnamon
Bolo Fatia
This cake is more like a traditional cake/tart. It has a thin dough, mango and egg cream and on top some kind on marshmallow made from the egg's whites.
I don't really know this cake's name because it was not written anywhere, but it's more commune like. I think you can find this type of cake in every country. It has a little egg vanilla cream and a spongecake like dough. good for milk and coffee when you are hungry also.
Salami
We have it also in Romania, but here it has a different texture and taste. You should try it, but it's not a priority because it's not that great.
Queijadas
This cake is traditional from Sintra ( a beautiful place near Lisbon) and it's very, very good. The texture it's very different from everything that you ever tried before: it has a crunchy dough on the exterior, but a really soft one on the interior, with egg cream in the middle. The best ones I've tried so far are in Sintra, in the famous Piriquita cake shop.
Travesseiro
Actually I've saved my all time favorite cake for the last. It's a piece of heaven on Earth. I really can't describe how wonderfully good this cake is. If i could, I would marry it. It has a very soft and crunchy dough and in the middle a pumpkin, egg and sugar cream, it is not very sweet but is sweet enough. It seems like it's made by angels and when you eat one you feel like the heaven just opened four your mouth to taste it. The texture it's great, the cream is soft and delicate so it's the perfect cake for me.
The best one I've had is in Sintra (where it is originally from) in Piriquita cake shop. You must try out this cake when you come visit Lisbon, it's worthed every penny,