Arouca Pedras Parideiras Cakes

Arouca's Pedras Parideiras are small, low and irregular cakes made with rye flour, walnuts, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, olive oil and yeast. A thin sugar syrup dries in pale patches over the brown surface, strengthening their stone-like appearance.

Inside, the crumb is soft and open, with a pronounced walnut flavour and notes of rye and cinnamon. Their shape and glaze freely evoke the dark nodules that detach from the Castanheira granite—the natural phenomenon known as the Pedras Parideiras, or ‘birthing stones’.