Guarda Cascoréis
Fried, hollow, blistered discs tossed in cinnamon sugar.
- Origin
- Guarda · Beira Interior
- Place
- Guarda
- Region
- The Centre
- Category
- Fried Sweets
- Season
- Festive seasons and village fairs
- Evidence
- Well documented
Cascoréis da Guarda are fried cakes made with flour, eggs, olive oil, baker's yeast, aguardente and salt. They measure roughly twelve to fourteen centimetres and weigh fifty to seventy grams.
The risen dough is stretched by hand into circles and fried in very hot oil. Heat creates concave and convex surfaces, irregular rims and abundant hollow blisters; once drained, the cascoréis are tossed in cinnamon sugar.
- wheat flour
- eggs
- olive oil
- baker's yeast
- aguardente
- salt
- oil for frying
- sugar
- cinnamon
Crisp across the blisters and chewier at the rims, perfumed with aguardente, sugar and cinnamon.
No two discs are identical: centre thickness, rim and blister pattern depend on how the dough is stretched and fried.
At fairs, festivals and traditional pastry shops in the Guarda district, especially during festive seasons. Aldeia do Bispo parish announced cascoréis among the sweets taken to the 2025 Feira Farta, confirming contemporary presence in the municipality; offerings change from one edition to another.
Coffee, herbal tea or sweet wine from Beira Interior.
The tradition is associated with festivals in Guarda and its surroundings. A memoir cited by DGADR lists them among the picnic foods eaten at the fairground after sung Mass and the procession. The name is not exclusive to Guarda, however: Castelo Branco municipal documentation records a distinct cascoréis tradition in Lardosa's Feast of Saint Sebastian. This page specifically describes the formula and form catalogued as Cascoréis da Guarda.
Well documented
Identity supported by institutional, specialist or corroborating sources.
- tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt/pt/cat/doces-e-produtos-de-pastelaria/170-cascoreis-da-guarda (opens in a new tab)
- cm-castelobranco.pt/media/12562/site_revista-castelo-branco_n6.pdf (opens in a new tab)
- freguesiaaldeiadobispo.blogspot.com/2025/09/participacao-na-feira-farta-2025.html (opens in a new tab)
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