Broas de Espécie
Tiny almond-and-pine-nut broas on wafer paper, scattered with sprinkles.
- Origin
- Lisbon and Tagus Valley · Christmas tradition
- Region
- Lisbon and Tagus Valley
- Season
- Christmas
Broas de Espécie are tiny golden oval cakes, considerably smaller than Broas Castelar: roughly five centimetres by two to three. They are made with peeled ground almonds, pine nuts, sugar, yolks, whites and just enough flour for shaping.
They are baked on wafer paper, brushed with egg and scattered with colourful sprinkles. Their centre is compact and rich in nuts; making them in advance allows them to dry and firm before Christmas.
- peeled ground almonds
- pine nuts
- sugar
- egg yolks
- egg whites
- flour
- wafer paper
- egg for glazing
- colourful sprinkles
Concentrated almond and pine-nut sweetness, compact and slightly dry, with a fine wafer-paper base.
Proportions and decoration vary from pastry shop to pastry shop; DGADR notes that each maker preserves its own formula.
In Lisbon and Tagus Valley pastry shops at Christmas, usually alongside other traditional broas.
Tea, coffee or almond liqueur.
Here the word broa is used by analogy of shape: strictly speaking it would apply only to cakes made with maize flour, such as Broas Castelar. The recipe varies between makers and, according to DGADR, was prepared by almost every pastry shop in the region at Christmas.
Sources: tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt
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