Torta de Azeitão is a Portuguese roll cake filled with doces de ovos from the parish of Azeitão.

Torta de Azeitão
Tortas de Azeitão
Alternative namesTortas de Azeitão (plural)
TypeRoll cake
Conventual sweet
CourseDessert
Place of originPortugal
Region or stateAzeitão, Setúbal
Created byManuel Rodrigues
Maria Albina
Main ingredientsSponge cake (Maize flour, eggs, almonds, sugar), doces de ovos (egg yolks, sugar, water)
Ingredients generally usedCinnamon
VariationsGianduja (chocolate, hazelnuts)
Similar dishesTorta de Aveiro, Torta de Viana, Torta de doce de ovos, Pampilho, Pastéis de Vouzela, Pastel de Tentúgal

History

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The cakes are believed to have originated in Fronteira, Alentejo in the late 1800s.[1] The recipe was purchased by Manuel Rodrigues from the pastelaria "O Cego" (lit.'The Blind') which was established in 1901 in Azeitão.[2] Rodrigues, the namesake of the pastry shop as he was blind, gave the recipe to his wife Maria Albina who was an accomplished confectioner.[3] The cakes were originally made as a large cake that was sliced into individual servings.[4] But eventually, the cakes were made into smaller individual cakes seen today.[5]

José Augusto Pinto is the current owner of the O Cego, who started baking at the age of fifteen. The pastelaria was purchased by his father Augusto Pinto from Rodrigues in 1975.[6] Pinto continues to recreate the original Torta de Azeitão recipe and other recipes created by Maria Albina.[7] While O Cego remains the origin of the Tortas de Azeitão, other pastelaria in Azeitão offer the pastry as well.[8] Another shop offers the pastry in other filling flavors, such as gianduia.[9]

Although not considered a conventual sweet, it shares many of its egg-rich characteristics.[10] Notably, the sponge cake is made with maize flour instead of wheat flour.[1] A similar roll cake made of wheat flour and filled with doces de ovos is found in Viana do Castelo known as torta de Viana is classified as a conventual sweet.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Fernandes, Daniel. "Torta de Azeitão". Produtos Tradicionais Portugueses (in Portuguese). Direção-Geral de Agricultura e Desenvolvimento Rural. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  2. ^ Castro, Cristina (10 November 2017). "TORTAS DE AZEITÃO". No Ponto (in European Portuguese). Páginas Apetecíveis Unipessoal, Lda. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  3. ^ Morais, Filomena (3 March 2017). "Torta de Azeitão: história e receita". Ekonomista (in European Portuguese). Wace Studio. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Torta de Azeitão". Jornal Sabores (in European Portuguese). 22 June 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  5. ^ Maia, Marta Lagoutina (12 December 2019). "Lugares de Abandonoda Obsolescência Arquitetónica ao Turismo Identitário: Proposta de Turismo Vitivinícola Para a Reabilitação do Palácio dos Duques de Aveiro em Azeitão". Projeto de Final de Mestrado para obtenção de Grau de Mestre em Arquitetura (in European Portuguese). Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Arquitetura: 35. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  6. ^ Bico, Carolina (5 January 2019). "Pastelaria Regional Cego: casa das verdadeiras tortas de Azeitão (e não só)". New in Setúbal (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Bolos do Cego – onde nasceu a torta de Azeitão e se comem os amores". SAPO Viagens (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  8. ^ Petersen, Brent (8 June 2023). "Torta de Azeitão". Medium. Destination Eat Drink.
  9. ^ "Tortas de Azeitão". tortasdeazeitao.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  10. ^ Boileau, Janet P. (31 August 2010). A culinary history of the Portuguese Eurasians: the origins of Luso-Asian cuisine in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (PDF). Adelaide, Australia: University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics. p. 82-85.
  11. ^ Lusa, Fugas (27 October 2021). "Torta de Viana já é certificada". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 November 2023.