30 Portuguese fried sweets
Leavened, shaped or filled doughs, fried and finished with sugar, cinnamon, honey or syrup.
Frying holds a central place in Portugal’s sweet calendar. Christmas brings filhós, sonhos, coscorões and azevias; Carnival favours malassadas and other festive doughs; in summer, the custard-filled bola de Berlim has become inseparable from the beach.
The family ranges from batters and bread doughs to pumpkin or sweet-potato mixtures and filled turnovers. Cinnamon sugar is the common finish, while honey, syrup and egg fillings create sharply different regional traditions.
Four ways into the family
Portuguese icon Berliner
The golden ball that roams Portugal's beaches to the cry of 'olha a bolinha!'.
Nationwide
Portuguese icon Filhós
The Christmas fry-up: stretched dough, crackling oil and cinnamon sugar.
Nationwide
Portuguese icon Malassadas
The Azorean Carnival fry-up: airy yeast dough, crackling oil and sugar on your fingers.
The Azores
Portuguese icon Azevias
Crisp fried half-moons stuffed with cinnamon-scented chickpea or sweet potato.
The Alentejo30 Portuguese fried sweets
Open each record for origin, ingredients, flavour, history, variations, season, where to try it and sources.
Portuguese icon Bilharacos Pumpkin Fritters
Christmas pumpkin fritters with nuts, cinnamon and sugar.
The North
Portuguese icon Pumpkin Fritters
Soft Christmas fritters of jerimum pumpkin, brandy, sugar and cinnamon.
The North
Portuguese icon Fão Clarinhas
The golden half-moon that made Fão a byword for sweetness.
The North
Portuguese icon Donas-Velhas
A sweet remembered by name, yet unconfirmed by the record.
The North
Portuguese icon Penedono Filhoses
Festive yeast-dough fritters, hand-flattened and dusted with sugar.
The North
Portuguese icon Cesar Carpenter's Ribbon Pastries
A spiral ribbon of fried pastry, crisp as a plane shaving and filled with egg-yolk cream.
The North
Portuguese icon Póvoa-style Rabanada
A whole trimmed bijou roll, soaked in aromatic milk and fried until almost doughnut-like.
The North
Portuguese icon Paiva-style Rabanadas
Thick slices of cacete bread soaked in lemon-and-cinnamon syrup, dipped in egg and fried.
The North
Portuguese icon Elderflower Fritters
Heads of elderflower dipped in batter and fried, scented with the end of spring.
Trás-os-Montes
Portuguese icon Esquecidos
Beaten so long that the name comes from the cook who forgot what she was doing.
Trás-os-Montes
Portuguese icon Pitos de Santa Luzia
The little dough bundle of pumpkin jam that you give on Saint Lucy's Day.
Trás-os-Montes
Portuguese icon Barroso Honey Rabanadas
Small fried rabanadas served hot in a dark Barroso heather-honey syrup.
Trás-os-Montes
Portuguese icon Peniche Chickpea Azevias
Thin fried half-moons with a sweet, creamy chickpea, almond and egg-yolk filling.
The Centre
Portuguese icon Guarda Cascoréis
Fried, hollow, blistered discs tossed in cinnamon sugar.
The Centre
Portuguese icon Vila Velha de Ródão Nógados
Golden cords of fried dough, drenched in honey and scented with cinnamon.
The Centre
Portuguese icon Vila Velha de Ródão Pantufas
Little fried potato pillows, golden and drenched in honey.
The Centre
Portuguese icon Tibornas
The marzipan dome of the banquets of the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa.
The Centre
Portuguese icon Peniche Pastries
A golden filling of egg yolk and almond, fried by the sea and dusted with sugar and cinnamon.
The West Portuguese icon Azevias
Crisp fried half-moons stuffed with cinnamon-scented chickpea or sweet potato.
The Alentejo
Portuguese icon Coscorões
Ribbons of dough fried until they shatter, dusted with sugar and cinnamon or bathed in honey.
The Alentejo
Portuguese icon Cabrela Ribbon Fritters
An Alentejo fritter of thin cut dough coiled into crisp ribbons.
The Alentejo
Portuguese icon Rolled Alentejo Filhós
Thin pastry ribbons fried into spirals and glazed with sugar syrup or honey.
The Alentejo
Portuguese icon Aljezur Sweet-Potato Fritters
Golden sweet-potato fritters coated with sugar syrup or local honey.
The Algarve
Portuguese icon Aljezur Sweet-Potato Turnovers
Fried half-moons filled with Aljezur sweet potato, cinnamon and citrus.
The Algarve
Portuguese icon Faial Cream Puffs
The sweet breath of Faial's Carnival — hollow within and brimming with lemon cream.
The Azores Portuguese icon Malassadas
The Azorean Carnival fry-up: airy yeast dough, crackling oil and sugar on your fingers.
The Azores Portuguese icon Berliner
The golden ball that roams Portugal's beaches to the cry of 'olha a bolinha!'.
Nationwide Portuguese icon Filhós
The Christmas fry-up: stretched dough, crackling oil and cinnamon sugar.
Nationwide
Portuguese icon Portuguese French Toast
Day-old bread reborn in gold, egg, and cinnamon on Christmas Eve.
Nationwide
Portuguese icon Dreams
Hollow, pillowy fritters, fried golden and tumbled in sugar and cinnamon.
NationwideQuestions about this family
What are fried sweets?
Leavened, shaped or filled doughs, fried and finished with sugar, cinnamon, honey or syrup.
How many sweets are in this category?
The catalogue contains 30 specialities in this family. Every record includes origin, ingredients, flavour, history, variations, season, where to try it and sources.
Where should I begin?
A useful first selection is Berliner, Filhós, Malassadas, Azevias. The complete collection below also reveals lesser-known local specialities.