Cesar Christmas Bread Pudding
Also known as: Cesar Formigos · Cesar Christmas Bread Pudding
Two-day-old bread transformed into a Christmas pudding of milk, honey, yolks, white wine and cinnamon.
- Origin
- Cesar · Oliveira de Azeméis · Aveiro District
- Region
- Cesar · Oliveira de Azeméis
- Season
- Christmas
Formigos Cesarenses are a Christmas sweet from Cesar in Oliveira de Azeméis municipality. Well-squeezed soaked stale bread is slowly cooked with milk, sugar, butter, honey and cinnamon into a thick pudding. Beaten yolks mixed with white wine and more honey are added at the end so that small yellow ribbons remain visible.
This composition distinguishes the Cesar version from many formigos or mexidos made in Minho and Trás-os-Montes, which are often enriched with raisins, pine nuts, walnuts and Port. The published Cesar formula contains no nuts or dried fruit: bread, dairy, honey, eggs, white wine and cinnamon define the sweet.
- stale bread crumb
- milk
- sugar
- butter
- honey
- egg yolks
- white wine
- cinnamon
Dense, soft and comforting, with honey-and-sugar sweetness, buttery yolk richness and a warm cinnamon-and-white-wine finish.
Do not automatically equate Formigos Cesarenses with every northern mexidos recipe. Elsewhere, cooks add nuts, raisins, lemon peel or Port; the published Cesar recipe uses white wine and does not include those fruits.
The tradition belongs to the town of Cesar and is chiefly associated with Christmas. Look for it at food events, traditional restaurants and homes in Oliveira de Azeméis municipality during the festive season; because it is not an everyday pastry-counter item, check before visiting.
Coffee, black tea or a small glass of the same white wine used in the pudding.
Oliveira de Azeméis municipality includes Formigos Cesarenses among its local sweets, and the Municipal Culture Plan identifies them among Cesar's notable foods. The recipe already had national reach on 18 December 1992, when RTP's television programme 'Culinária' broadcast its preparation presented by Lindolfo Ribeiro.
Like many resourceful sweets, they grew from making use of bread that was no longer fresh. Their association with Christmas is well established in the food sources consulted, although household proportions may vary from one family to another.
Sources: cm-oaz.pt · arquivo.cm-oaz.pt · arquivos.rtp.pt · gastronomias.com · allaboutportugal.pt
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