Broas de Espécie
Tiny almond-and-pine-nut broas on wafer paper, scattered with sprinkles.
- Origin
- Lisbon and Tagus Valley · Christmas tradition
- Place
- Lisbon and Tagus Valley
- Region
- Lisbon
- Category
- Festive & Seasonal
- Season
- Christmas
- Evidence
- Well documented
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.
The DGADR record describes an almond, pine-nut and egg-yolk mixture without sweet potato. An Estremadura recipe published from Festas e Comeres do Povo Português documents another family containing sweet potato, coconut and citrus. Coloured sprinkles connect versions whose composition is not uniform.
In Lisbon and Tagus Valley pastry shops at Christmas. Benard lists them separately from Castelar in its seasonal range; confirm availability.
Tea, coffee or almond liqueur.
Here the word broa is used by analogy of shape: DGADR observes that strictly speaking the designation would apply only to cakes made with maize flour, such as Broas Castelar. The Dictionary of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences identifies broa de espécie by its coloured-sprinkle coating, a more stable feature than the formula, which varies among makers.
Well documented
Identity supported by institutional, specialist or corroborating sources.
- tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt/pt/cat/doces-e-produtos-de-pastelaria/745-broas-de-especie (opens in a new tab)
- dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt/pesquisa/boroa/ (opens in a new tab)
- gastronomias.com/natal/doce0414.htm (opens in a new tab)
- benard.pt/natal (opens in a new tab)
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