Love Cakes
Also known as: Love cakes · Bolinhos de amor of Penafiel
Soft little balls of egg and sugar, scented with lemon — the sweet of Penafiel's São Martinho fair.
- Origin
- A traditional fair sweet from Penafiel, in northern Portugal (Entre-Douro-e-Minho); an egg sweet of folk tradition that, despite its affectionate name, is not documented as an Azorean speciality.
- Region
- Azores
- Season
- Year-round, especially at Easter and the São Martinho fair
Bolinhos de amor are exactly what the name promises: small golden balls, soft and sugared, eaten in a single bite, one after another. The batter is simple — plenty of eggs and yolks beaten long with sugar until light and airy, lemon zest and flour — and the magic lies in the generous proportion of egg, which gives them a yellow, tender crumb, halfway between a sponge cake (pão-de-ló) and a soft biscuit.
In Penafiel they belong to the world of fair sweets and family occasions. They come out of the oven blushing and are usually finished with a thin coating of sugar beaten with egg white and lemon juice, which dries on top like a translucent glaze. They are the sort of sweet you buy by the box, offer to visitors, and that always turns up on Easter tables and at the region's fairs.
They are neither grand nor showy — and that is their charm. This is the sweet of the small, everyday gesture, made to go with a cup of tea or coffee and sweeten a conversation.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks
- Sugar
- Flour
- Lemon zest
- Egg white and lemon juice (for the glaze)
Sweet and light, with the fresh lift of lemon to cut the richness of the egg. The crumb is fluffy and airy, almost falling apart, while the sugar-and-egg-white glaze gives them a thin, crisp finish on top. Small on purpose, they always invite a second.
The base recipe varies from house to house, but lemon is the constant signature. Some versions use more yolks for a richer crumb, others skip the sugar-and-egg-white glaze, and the size ranges from a walnut to a small cake-ball. Some houses keep their exact recipe a closely guarded secret.
In Penafiel, the reference is the Casa dos Bolinhos de Amor, in Casais Novos (São Martinho de Recesinhos), where they are made by hand and sold by the box. Look for them too at the region's fairs, above all around Easter and the São Martinho fair. As this is a very homemade sweet, the best version is often the one baked at home.
They call for tea or a plain coffee. A hot cup is the natural partner for these small, light cakes, at teatime or late afternoon.
Bolinhos de amor belong to the wide family of egg sweets in Portugal's folk tradition and are strongly tied to Penafiel, in the district of Porto. The best-known reference is the Casa dos Bolinhos de Amor, in the hamlet of Casais Novos, parish of São Martinho de Recesinhos, where one family has produced them by hand in a wood-fired oven for several generations; the recipe is kept as a family secret.
They are, above all, a fair sweet: tradition links them to the São Martinho fair in Penafiel, and a popular rhyme runs roughly "If you go to Penafiel, to the São Martinho fair, don't forget, oh Manel, to bring me a little cake." There is no documented convent origin with a firm date and no protected geographical indication — this is a sweet of popular receipt-books, handed down from hand to hand. Though the affectionate name turns up occasionally elsewhere in the country, there is no documented tradition of bolinhos de amor in the Azores.
Sources: novumcanal.pt · cozinhatradicional.com · cm-penafiel.pt · noponto.pt · rotadoromanico.com · cozinhaacoriana.pt