Viseu Saint Benedict Sweet Bread

Also known as: Saint Benedict Sweet Bread · Viseu São Bento Bread

Easter sweet bread scented with cinnamon, orange and aguardente.

Origin: Viseu · Beira Alta
Region: Viseu · Beira Alta
Season: Easter and the feasts of Saint Benedict

Sweetness

Richness

Difficulty

Viseu's Pão de São Bento is a risen sweet bread shaped into small oval loaves and scored before baking. Its egg-and-sugar enriched dough is scented with cinnamon, orange zest and aguardente, producing a tender crumb and golden crust.

It is both festive bread and folar: firm enough to carry and give, yet aromatic and sweet for the Easter table.

Ingredients

type 65 wheat flour
eggs
sugar
baker's yeast
cinnamon
orange zest
aguardente
water
fat, depending on recipe

Taste & texture

Soft, moderately sweet crumb with cinnamon, citrus and a gentle warmth from aguardente.

Variations

Also called Bolo de São Bento; proportions and fat vary by bakery, and production is often concentrated at Easter and on Fridays.

Where to try it

At traditional Viseu bakeries, with greatest availability during Easter.

Pairs well with

Serra cheese, coffee or Dão wine.

History

Its origin is documented in the early eighteenth-century oven book of Bom Jesus Monastery in Viseu, where it appears as ‘butter bread of our Patriarch Saint Benedict’, baked for the feasts of 21 March and 11 July. By the nineteenth century it was offered at Easter to children and godchildren; the practice survives as a Viseu folar.

Sources: visitviseu.pt · mapadossegredosgastronomicos.visitviseudaolafoes.pt · asreceitasdaavohelena.blogspot.com · turismodocentro.pt · gazetarural.com

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