Vale de Ílhavo Easter Folar

Wood-fired sweet folar with brown eggs secured by crossed dough straps.

Origin: Vale de Ílhavo · Aveiro Lagoon
Region: Vale de Ílhavo
Season: Year-round; especially at weekends and Easter

Sweetness

Richness

Difficulty

Folar de Vale de Ílhavo is a round cake of sweet yeast dough. Whole eggs boiled with onion skins for a brown colour sit on top, held by crossed 'straps' made from the same dough. Its size grows with the number of eggs; an eggless version also exists.

Flour, salt and yeast dissolved in warm water form the first dough. Once doubled, sugar, eggs, butter and cinnamon are added, followed by the remaining flour. After a second rise, the folar is shaped by hand, decorated and baked in a wood-fired oven.

Ingredients

wheat flour
sugar
eggs
baker's yeast
butter
water
salt
cinnamon
optional lemon zest
onion skins

Taste & texture

Fluffy, buttery and gently sweet, with cinnamon and sometimes a fresh note of lemon.

Variations

It may carry one or several eggs, increasing in size with each, or appear without eggs outside Easter.

Where to try it

At traditional bakeries in Vale de Ílhavo and the surrounding outlets they supply.

Pairs well with

Espresso, tea or soft buttery cheese.

History

Vale de Ílhavo, beside the Bôco River and Aveiro Lagoon, had numerous millstreams and watermills and strong cereal cultivation from the 17th to 19th centuries. That landscape sustained a renowned bread and folar tradition. The knowledge, developed chiefly by women, passed from mother to daughter together with the craft tools.

Sources: tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt

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