27 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
Catalogue image Berliner
The golden ball that roams Portugal's beaches to the cry of 'olha a bolinha!'.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Filhós
The Christmas fry-up: stretched dough, crackling oil and cinnamon sugar.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Malassadas
The Azorean Carnival fry-up: airy yeast dough, crackling oil and sugar on your fingers.
The Azores
Catalogue image Azevias
Crisp fried half-moons stuffed with cinnamon-scented chickpea or sweet potato.
The Alentejo27 Portuguese fried sweets
Open each record for origin, ingredients, flavour, history, variations, season, where to try it and sources.
Catalogue image Bilharacos Pumpkin Fritters
Christmas pumpkin fritters with nuts, cinnamon and sugar.
The North
Catalogue image Pumpkin Fritters
Soft Christmas fritters of jerimum pumpkin, brandy, sugar and cinnamon.
The North
Catalogue image Fão Clarinhas
The golden half-moon that made Fão a byword for sweetness.
The North
Catalogue image Cesar Carpenter's Ribbon Pastries
A spiral ribbon of fried pastry, crisp as a plane shaving and filled with egg-yolk cream.
The North
Catalogue image Póvoa-style Rabanada
A whole trimmed bijou roll, soaked in aromatic milk and fried until almost doughnut-like.
The North
Catalogue image Paiva-style Rabanadas
Thick slices of cacete bread soaked in lemon-and-cinnamon syrup, dipped in egg and fried.
The North
Catalogue image Pitos de Santa Luzia
The little dough bundle of pumpkin jam that you give on Saint Lucy's Day.
Trás-os-Montes
Catalogue image Barroso Honey Rabanadas
Small fried rabanadas served hot in a dark Barroso heather-honey syrup.
Trás-os-Montes
Catalogue image Porto de Mós Fried Cakes
Enriched bread dough fried in olive oil and rolled in sugar.
The Centre
Catalogue image Guarda Cascoréis
Fried, hollow, blistered discs tossed in cinnamon sugar.
The Centre
Catalogue image Penedono Filhoses
Festive yeast-dough fritters, hand-flattened and dusted with sugar.
The Centre
Catalogue image Vila Velha de Ródão Nógados
Thick, long cords of fried dough, golden with honey.
The Centre
Catalogue image Covilhã Organ Pipes
Fried tubes filled with egg yolk and almond, assembled like organ pipes.
The Centre
Catalogue image Vila Velha de Ródão Pantufas
Leavened potato batter, fried and finished with honey or sugar.
The Centre
Catalogue image Peniche Chickpea Azevias
Thin fried half-moons with a sweet, creamy chickpea, almond and egg-yolk filling.
The West
Catalogue image Peniche Pastries
Thin pastry, an egg-yolk and almond filling, and a tradition passed between Peniche confectioners.
The West Catalogue image Azevias
Crisp fried half-moons stuffed with cinnamon-scented chickpea or sweet potato.
The Alentejo
Catalogue image Cabrela Ribbon Fritters
An Alentejo fritter of thin cut dough coiled into crisp ribbons.
The Alentejo
Catalogue image Rolled Alentejo Filhós
Thin pastry ribbons fried into spirals and glazed with sugar syrup or honey.
The Alentejo
Catalogue image Aljezur Sweet-Potato Fritters
Aljezur sweet-potato fritters coated with sugar syrup or local honey.
The Algarve
Catalogue image Aljezur Sweet-Potato Turnovers
Fried half-moons filled with Aljezur sweet potato, cinnamon and citrus.
The Algarve Catalogue image Malassadas
The Azorean Carnival fry-up: airy yeast dough, crackling oil and sugar on your fingers.
The Azores Catalogue image Berliner
The golden ball that roams Portugal's beaches to the cry of 'olha a bolinha!'.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Coscorões
Ribbons of dough fried until they shatter, dusted with sugar and cinnamon or bathed in honey.
Nationwide Catalogue image Filhós
The Christmas fry-up: stretched dough, crackling oil and cinnamon sugar.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Portuguese French Toast
Aged bread, milk, egg and cinnamon in a Portuguese Christmas tradition.
Nationwide
Catalogue image 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 27 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.