39 Portuguese puddings and spoon sweets
Unmoulded puddings, sweet rice and pasta, creams, porridges and baked desserts eaten with a spoon.
Portuguese spoon desserts extend far beyond caramel flan. They include cinnamon-decorated rice pudding, Christmas aletria, tigeladas baked in clay, corn or pumpkin porridges and puddings enriched with eggs, bread, olive oil, chestnut, orange or wine.
Some set in the oven or a water bath and are turned out; others remain creamy and reach the table in a serving dish or bowl. Arroz-doce, Pudim Abade de Priscos, tigelada and aletria are four gateways into this family of textures.
Four ways into the family
Catalogue image Portuguese Rice Pudding
The Sunday dessert of the whole country, signed in cinnamon.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Abbot of Priscos Pudding
Portugal's richest pudding: egg yolks, Port and — quietly — a piece of pork fat.
The North
Catalogue image Tigelada
Eggs and milk in a clay bowl, gilded in the heat of a wood-fired oven.
The Centre
Catalogue image Sweet Vermicelli
Fine wheat threads simmered in milk and yolk, scored with cinnamon.
The North39 Portuguese puddings and spoon sweets
Open each record for origin, ingredients, flavour, history, variations, season, where to try it and sources.
Catalogue image Sweet Vermicelli
Fine wheat threads simmered in milk and yolk, scored with cinnamon.
The North
Catalogue image Douro Christmas Bread Pudding
Bread, honey, Port and nuts in a cinnamon-scented Christmas pudding.
The North Catalogue image Abbot of Priscos Pudding
Portugal's richest pudding: egg yolks, Port and — quietly — a piece of pork fat.
The North
Catalogue image Countess Aldara Pudding
Santo Tirso's official low, fluted pudding beneath dark caramel.
The North
Catalogue image Régua Cassava-Flour Pudding
A golden, dense Douro baked pudding bound with fine cassava flour.
The North
Catalogue image Amares Orange Pudding
A dark caramelised pudding made only with eggs, sugar and juice from local oranges.
The North
Catalogue image Valongo Bread Pudding
Valongo's smooth, golden pudding made with regueifa crumb, milk, eggs and lemon.
The North
Catalogue image Ponte de Lima Franciscan Pudding
Eggs, sugar and tangerine juice in a convent pudding baked in a water bath.
The North
Catalogue image Caíde Sweet Sarrabulho
A pig-slaughter spoon sweet of Padronelo bread, cooked blood, honey, cinnamon and Port.
The North
Catalogue image Mirandela Olive-Oil Pudding
A caramel pudding in which olive oil carries Mirandela's olive-growing culture into dessert.
Trás-os-Montes
Catalogue image Bragança Chestnut Pudding
The gold of the Terra Fria, turned to a spoonful.
Trás-os-Montes
Catalogue image Baixo Mondego Rice Pudding
Mondego Carolino rice and Gândara milk, traced with cinnamon.
The Centre
Catalogue image Vouzela Coconut Mimo
A small moist yellow coconut-and-yolk pudding marked by half a cherry.
The Centre
Catalogue image Miranda do Corvo Turnip Preserve
A rare fibrous convent preserve of turnip and almond, prepared over several days.
The Centre
Catalogue image Corn-Meal Pudding
The Beira folk's rice pudding, made of corn, milk and cinnamon.
The Centre
Catalogue image The King's Carolo Pudding
Bairrada's sweet corn porridge enriched for All Saints' Day.
The Centre
Catalogue image Vila de Rei Almond Pudding
Vila de Rei almond pudding rich in yolks and scented with citrus.
The Centre Catalogue image Tigelada
Eggs and milk in a clay bowl, gilded in the heat of a wood-fired oven.
The Centre
Catalogue image Pampilhosa Goat-Milk Tigelada
A mountain tigelada of eggs, milk and sugar, locally celebrated but still lacking a complete public formula.
The Centre
Catalogue image Arganil Earthenware Custard
Eggs and milk baked dark for an hour in red glazed earthenware.
The Centre
Catalogue image Oliveira do Hospital Earthenware Custard
A corn-bread-flour tigelada toasted in a Molelos earthenware pot.
The Centre
Catalogue image Proença-a-Nova Honey Tigelada
Goat's milk and heather honey in a rustic pudding scorched by a wood oven.
The Centre
Catalogue image Lousã Tigelada
A flour-thickened Beira tigelada with lemon and cinnamon, browned in earthenware.
The Centre
Catalogue image Corn Papas with Grape-Must Arrobe
The Moita dos Ferreiros speciality that sweetens corn papas with concentrated-must arrobe.
The West
Catalogue image Alcobaça Monks' Egg Pudding
The small egg-and-sugar pudding preserved by Alcobaça confectioners.
The West
Catalogue image Palmela Sheep's-Milk Rice Pudding
Creamy sheep's-milk rice pudding marked with the sword of the Order of Santiago.
Lisbon
Catalogue image Monchique Honey Pudding
A mountain pudding of eggs, honey, olive oil, lemon and cinnamon, slowly baked.
The Algarve
Catalogue image Madeira Cherimoya Mousse
Madeira cherimoya at the centre of a fresh, light and creamy dessert.
Madeira
Catalogue image Madeira Passion Fruit Pudding
Creamy pudding cut by the fragrant tang of Madeiran passion fruit.
Madeira
Catalogue image Terceira Vinegar Sweet
A spoon sweet of curdled milk, yolks, aniseed and cinnamon despite its surprising name.
The Azores
Catalogue image Count of Praia Pudding
A convent-style potato, egg-yolk and spice pudding associated with the first Count of Praia da Vitória.
The Azores Catalogue image Portuguese Rice Pudding
The Sunday dessert of the whole country, signed in cinnamon.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Portuguese Caramel Mousse
Cooked condensed milk and eggs folded into a light, creamy, intensely caramelised mousse.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Molotov Pudding
Egg whites and sugar baked into a light pudding and served with caramel.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Portuguese-Style Chocolate Mousse
Dark chocolate, yolks and whipped whites in an intense, airy home-style mousse without cream.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Portuguese Heavenly Cream
Maria biscuit, a light white cream of whipped cream and egg whites, and a golden crown of egg-yolk cream.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Flan
Milk, eggs and caramel in a smooth, water-bath-baked pudding.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Quindim
A small Brazilian yolk, coconut and sugar pudding baked in a water bath.
Nationwide
Catalogue image Portuguese Sawdust Pudding
Chilled layers of cream and condensed milk divided by Maria biscuit crumbs resembling sawdust.
NationwideQuestions about this family
What are puddings & spoon sweets?
Unmoulded puddings, sweet rice and pasta, creams, porridges and baked desserts eaten with a spoon.
How many sweets are in this category?
The catalogue contains 39 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 Portuguese Rice Pudding, Abbot of Priscos Pudding, Tigelada, Sweet Vermicelli. The complete collection below also reveals lesser-known local specialities.