Cascais Royal Cakes
Also known as: Cascais Royal Cakes
Almond-and-cinnamon discs on wafer, filled with egg threads and citron.
- Origin
- Cascais · documented local specialty from the early 20th century
- Place
- Cascais
- Region
- Lisbon
- Category
- Egg-Yolk Sweets
- Season
- Year-round
- Evidence
- Well documented
Cascais Bolos Reais are small round cakes made from almond, yolk and cinnamon paste, assembled on thin wafer discs. Each one encloses egg threads and tiny pieces of citron between two portions of paste, then receives an egg-yolk glaze before a short bake.
The exterior is compact and slightly coarse, with warm cinnamon fragrance and a moist, golden, thread-like centre. They should not be confused with Viana do Alentejo's Bolo Real, a larger cake filled with gila preserve and covered in fondant.
- Sugar
- Ground almonds
- Egg yolks
- Egg whites
- Cinnamon
- Flour
- Wafer sheets
- Egg threads
- Citron
Intense almond and cinnamon, rich yolk sweetness and a delicate contrast between dense paste, thin wafer and moist filling.
The documented form is about six centimetres wide and contains egg threads and citron; visible filling and browning of the yolk glaze may vary.
Today these are chiefly a recovered historic sweet. Look for them through Cascais FoodLab initiatives, traditional-confectionery events and local producers, checking availability first.
Espresso, unsweetened black tea or Carcavelos wine.
Alberto Pimentel mentions Bolos Reais in Cascaes (In Sem Passar a Fronteira), published in 1902, among the specialties of the former Casa Faz-Tudo. The municipality's account of Cascais confectionery adds that they were made for and appreciated by King Carlos I.
The recipe recovered by Cascais FoodLab is based on O Livro de Receitas da Última Freira de Odivelas (The Recipe Book of the Last Nun of Odivelas). That lineage explains its convent-style technique: almonds bound in sugar syrup, abundant yolks, wafer, egg threads and citron.
Well documented
Identity supported by institutional, specialist or corroborating sources.
- foodlab.cascais.pt/pt-pt/bolos-reais (opens in a new tab)
- cascais.pt/node/45906 (opens in a new tab)
- foodlab.cascais.pt/pt-pt/docaria-tradicional-de-cascais-em-processo-de-qualificacao (opens in a new tab)
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