Malveira Trouxas

Also known as: Malveira Tortas · Soft Pillows

Small sponge-cake pillows rolled around vanilla and almond cream.

Origin: Malveira · Mafra
Place: Malveira · Mafra
Region: Lisbon
Category: Cakes & Sweet Breads
Season: Year-round
Evidence: Well documented

Sweetness

Richness

Difficulty

Trouxas da Malveira are soft sponge-like rectangles about 8.5 by 5.5 centimetres, 8 millimetres thick and roughly 80 grams. Each piece wraps a cream of milk, eggs, flour, vanilla and nuts, especially almonds.

The surface is golden and soft, sometimes dusted, and a cut piece reveals cake curled around a pale filling. They are sold individually or in boxes of four or six.

Ingredients

wheat flour
corn flour
eggs
sugar
milk
vanilla
almonds and other nuts

Taste & texture

Soft sweet sponge with milky vanilla cream and gentle almond texture.

Variations

DGADR records Tortas da Malveira and Travesseiros Fofos as associated names. The municipal record identifies lemon, nuts and vanilla but publishes no proportions, so almond should not be presented as the only possible nut.

Where to try it

At bakeries in Malveira and around Mafra.

Pairs well with

Coffee, tea or milk.

History

Mafra municipality documents a convent-rooted recipe brought from Odivelas Convent by the founder of the Trouxas factory, who had worked for the nuns, and produced in Malveira since 1906. According to the same source, the Trouxas name appeared in 1952 through the founder's goddaughter, inspired by Saloio washerwomen carrying bundles of laundry on their heads. This municipal chronology is more precise than the generic account of 'two women'.

Documentary basis

Well documented

3 sources

Identity supported by institutional, specialist or corroborating sources.

How we assess sources and uncertainty →

Well documented

Pastries from here — Lisbon

Amendoados

Azeitão Almond Meringues

Cascais Sands

Arroubo Grape-Must Preserve