Portuguese Esquimó Chocolate Cake
Also known as: Portuguese Esquimó cake · Portuguese chocolate Charuto
Chilled sponge, buttercream, a thin chocolate shell and fios de ovos.
- Origin
- Portuguese pastry-counter tradition · likely unidentified foreign influence
- Region
- Portugal
- Season
- Year-round · served chilled
Esquimó is a long cylinder of roulade or guardanapo sponge joined with plain or cocoa buttercream. A thin chocolate sheet wraps the whole cake, leaving its pale spiral of sponge and cream visible at the ends. Fios de ovos complete the traditional presentation.
It may reach the counter still supported by, or partly wrapped in, the parchment used to shape it. It is served chilled: temperature firms the butter and gives the chocolate wrapper a fine snap before the soft centre yields.
- Roulade or guardanapo sponge
- Plain or cocoa buttercream
- Chocolate
- Fios de ovos
Cool, dense and creamy, with firm chocolate, sweet butter and the yolk richness of fios de ovos.
Buttercream may be plain or cocoa-flavoured; some versions mix preserved fruit into the cream. Size and quantity of fios de ovos vary.
Pastelaria Suíça presents it among its revived classics, while recent menus also record it in northern Portugal. Confirm availability before travelling.
Espresso or a short black coffee.
Fabrico Próprio considers its origin probably foreign but does not attribute the cake to a specific country, inventor or date. The suggestion that its name refers to being served very cold is plausible rather than proven. The alternative name Charuto directly describes its cylindrical form.
Although it became uncommon, it has not disappeared: Pastelaria Suíça has returned it to its classics, describing sponge and cream beneath a thin chocolate layer, while recent menus still list Pastel Esquimó.
Sources: fabricoproprio.net · pastelariasuica.pt · glovoapp.com
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