Guarda Biscuits
Rustic little volcano-shaped cakes baked in the bread oven's heat.
- Origin
- Guarda · Beira Interior
- Region
- Guarda
- Season
- Year-round
Biscoitos da Guarda are rustic cakes made from wheat flour, eggs, sugar, olive oil, baker's yeast and salt. Despite being called biscuits, they are substantial: around six to eight centimetres across and 70 to 80 grams each.
Shaped into little mounds or volcanoes, they develop a toasted-yellow crust that is crisp and cracked at the summit. The paler crumb is friable and breaks apart easily when cut.
- wheat flour
- eggs
- sugar
- olive oil
- baker's yeast
- salt
Simple and comforting, with a dry crust, friable crumb and gentle egg-and-olive-oil flavour.
The height of the “volcano”, the split at its summit and the degree of browning vary with the baker and oven.
At bakeries, pastry shops and regional-food fairs in the Guarda district.
Milky coffee, tea or Serra cheese.
The tradition reflects an old regional distinction between everyday maize or rye broa and “trigo”, the term used for wheat bread and especially wheat-based baking. The cakes were often baked in the wood-fired oven alongside a batch of bread.
Sources: tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt
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