Resende Cavacas

Also known as: Resende Cavacas with syrup

Sponge cake drenched in syrup, dressed in white sugar.

Origin: Resende, Beira/Douro · convent and pilgrimage confectionery, documented since the 19th century
Region: Resende
Season: Year-round, especially at fairs and pilgrimages

Sweetness

Richness

Difficulty

Cavacas de Resende are small cakes of a deep yellow colour, close kin to the pão-de-ló sponge, cut into rectangles of about five centimetres and plunged into sugar syrup. On the outside they wear a white, brittle sugar crust; on the inside they conceal a fluffy, moist and profoundly sweet crumb.

They should not be confused with the Cavacas das Caldas, which are dry and hollow: these are, rather, a sweet soaked in sweetness. They are generally served cold, on a plate, still dripping with the syrup scented with cinnamon and lemon in which they have been steeped, ready to melt on the tongue.

In Resende they are still made the old way, kneaded by hand on a traditional bench and baked in the wood-fired oven used for maize bread, just as they were in grandparents' time.

Ingredients

Whole eggs
Egg yolks
Sugar
Flour
Water
Cinnamon stick
Lemon peel
Butter (for greasing)

Taste & texture

Very sweet and moist, the fluffy sponge crumb contrasting with a white sugar crust that crackles at the first bite, all underpinned by a syrup scented with cinnamon and lemon.

Variations

Variations turn mostly on the ratio of whole eggs to yolks and the intensity of the syrup. They should not be confused with the Cavacas das Caldas da Rainha, which are dry, hollow and coated in a hardened icing, whereas the Resende ones stay soft and syrup-soaked.

Where to try it

Found in traditional bakeries and confectioners around the municipality of Resende, in the Viseu district, and at regional fairs and pilgrimages, where they are still sold handmade and wood-oven baked.

Pairs well with

They call for a strong coffee or tea to cut the sweetness; a glass of Moscatel or Port also sees them off nicely at the end of a meal.

History

The confectionery of Resende is ancient, bound up with the pilgrimages of the region, where cavacas were sold to pilgrims. A late-nineteenth-century account recalls the sweet-makers spreading various sugar-encrusted sweets on lace cloths, calling out: "My friend, won't you take half a pound? You'll see — they're from Resende."

As with so many convent and regional sweets, the precise origin is lost in oral tradition. A local legend attributes the sweet to a woman from Vinhós who, having had to postpone her daughter's wedding because of the plague, removed the top of the cake and steeped the remainder in sugar syrup to preserve it, delighting everyone with the result. True or not, the story captures the essence of the cavaca perfectly: a sponge cake that finds new life by being bathed in syrup.

Sources: tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt · grafe-e-faca.com · receitaseculinaria.pt · teleculinaria.pt

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