25 Portuguese fruit and honey sweets
Preserves, fruit pastes, stuffed dried fruits and confections whose identity is defined by fruit, grape must or honey.
Before refrigeration, sugar, honey and slow cooking extended the life of a harvest. Marmalades and preserves concentrated fruit; arroubo reduced grape must and seasonal produce without added sugar; dried figs, almonds and pine nuts turned surplus crops into portable sweets.
The family spans Portugal: Odivelas White Quince Paste preserves a convent legacy, Elvas plums keep whole fruit in syrup, reinetada gives new value to Colares apples, and Algarve confectioners shape figs and almonds into cheeses, stars and small confections.
Four ways into the family
Portuguese icon Colares Reineta Apple Paste
A firm Colares Reineta apple paste, sweet yet tangy, sliced like Portuguese quince paste.
Sintra
Portuguese icon Odivelas White Quince Paste PGI
An almost-white convent quince paste, firm enough to slice and protected by PGI.
Lisbon
Portuguese icon Elvas Plums
Crystallised greengage that has crossed borders since the convents of Elvas.
The Alentejo
Portuguese icon Arroubo Grape-Must Preserve
Grape must and fruit slowly reduced without a grain of added sugar.
The West25 Portuguese fruit and honey sweets
Open each record for origin, ingredients, flavour, history, variations, season, where to try it and sources.
Portuguese icon Régua Ferreirinha Bonbons
Gila, raisins, almond and pine nuts scented with Port beneath a thin chocolate shell.
The North
Portuguese icon Bravo de Esmolfe Apple Preserve
Beira Alta's intensely fragrant native apple transformed into a golden cinnamon preserve.
The Centre Portuguese icon Arroubo Grape-Must Preserve
Grape must and fruit slowly reduced without a grain of added sugar.
The West
Portuguese icon Portuguese Sour-Cherry Preserve
Pitted sour cherries cooked with sugar into a vivid, bittersweet ruby preserve.
The West Portuguese icon Colares Reineta Apple Paste
A firm Colares Reineta apple paste, sweet yet tangy, sliced like Portuguese quince paste.
Sintra Portuguese icon Odivelas White Quince Paste PGI
An almost-white convent quince paste, firm enough to slice and protected by PGI.
Lisbon
Portuguese icon Alcácer Pine-Nut Pinhoada
Crisp diamonds of toasted pine nuts and honey from Alcácer's fairs.
Lisbon
Portuguese icon Portuguese Água-mel Syrup
Honeycomb-washing water transformed over hours of heat into a dark syrup of honey, pollen and propolis.
The Alentejo
Portuguese icon Alcomonias
Toasted flour, honey and pine nuts in an age-old diamond.
The Alentejo Portuguese icon Elvas Plums
Crystallised greengage that has crossed borders since the convents of Elvas.
The Alentejo
Portuguese icon Algarve Orange Preserve
Algarve orange flesh, juice and fine peel concentrated into a sunny, bittersweet preserve.
The Algarve
Portuguese icon Fig Stars
The cotio fig split into a star, almonds gleaming at its points.
The Algarve
Portuguese icon Stuffed Figs
The Algarve's dried fig, split open and packed with almond, chocolate and fennel, then toasted in the oven.
The Algarve
Portuguese icon Portuguese Strawberry-Tree Jelly
A fine, translucent, bittersweet jelly made by straining the red pulp of strawberry-tree fruit.
The Algarve
Portuguese icon Fig Morgado
Fig and almond pressed into the shape of a cheese, dark with cocoa and Algarve sun.
The Algarve
Portuguese icon Silves Fig-and-Almond Sweets
Fig and almond shaped by hand into tiny sweet cheeses.
The Algarve
Portuguese icon Fig Cheese
No cheese at all: dried figs and almonds, pressed into a dark wheel.
The Algarve
Portuguese icon Azorean Capucho Jam
An Azorean preserve of capucho, the golden berry locally known as rebuçado.
The Azores
Portuguese icon Portuguese Pumpkin and Walnut Preserve
Pumpkin slowly cooked with sugar, lemon and cinnamon, studded with walnut pieces.
Nationwide
Portuguese icon Portuguese Fig Preserve
Ripe figs cooked with sugar, lemon and cinnamon into a dark, seeded, aromatic preserve.
Nationwide
Portuguese icon Portuguese Tomato Jam
Ripe tomatoes, sugar and cinnamon transformed into a glossy, ruby, unexpectedly fruity preserve.
Nationwide
Portuguese icon Portuguese Quince Jelly
A translucent ruby jelly made from pectin-rich quince peel, cores and cooking liquid.
Nationwide
Portuguese icon Portuguese Baked Apples
Whole apples baked with sugar, cinnamon and citrus until wrinkled outside and tender within.
Nationwide
Portuguese icon Portuguese Quince Paste
Quince and sugar slowly cooked into a firm, sliceable ruby paste.
Nationwide
Portuguese icon Portuguese Red-Wine Poached Pears
Whole pears stained ruby by slow poaching in red wine, sugar and warm spices.
NationwideQuestions about this family
What are fruit & honey sweets?
Preserves, fruit pastes, stuffed dried fruits and confections whose identity is defined by fruit, grape must or honey.
How many sweets are in this category?
The catalogue contains 25 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 Colares Reineta Apple Paste, Odivelas White Quince Paste PGI, Elvas Plums, Arroubo Grape-Must Preserve. The complete collection below also reveals lesser-known local specialities.