Little Egg Pastries of Marvila — Formula Printed in 1788
This page preserves the recipe printed on pages 174–175 of Arte nova, e curiosa, para conserveiros, confeiteiros e copeiros (1788), together with its internal reference to “ovos grossos” on pages 73–74. It does not convert ambiguous historical units, turn “ten réis” of cinnamon into a weight, or invent temperature, duration or yield.
- Yields
- Not stated; make the cases “the smaller the better”
- Prep
- Not stated
- Cook
- Not stated
Ingredients
- 1 quarta; historical measure left unconverted Flour
- 1 arrátel; plus unquantified washed butter for greasing Good butter
- 1 onça Orange-blossom water
- The value of 10 réis; a historical price, not a weight Ground cinnamon for the pastry
- 2 onças Sugar for the pastry
- The “ovos grossos” recipe in the same book uses 1 arrátel; the Marvila paragraph does not restate the amount Sugar for the filling’s egg sweet
- The “ovos grossos” recipe uses 12; the Marvila paragraph directs that the mixture be made firmer Eggs for the filling’s egg sweet
- “Some”; no quantity Toasted grated sponge cake
- No quantities Sugar and water for syrup at the espadana stage
- No quantities Powdered sugar and cinnamon to finish
Method
Mix one quarta of flour, one arrátel of good butter, one onça of orange-blossom water, ground cinnamon worth ten réis and two onças of sugar. Work until the dough is “tesa”, or firm. The source gives no incorporation order, temperature or further endpoint.
Grease a pan or tray with washed butter. The source does not explain how the butter is washed or specify the vessel’s material, dimensions or coating thickness.
Shape the dough into little cases, “the smaller the better”, and arrange them in the pan. No piece weight, diameter, thickness, mould or number of units is published.
Bake the cases until cooked. The 1788 source supplies no preheating, temperature, duration, position, colour or other endpoint; no invented modern equivalence is presented here.
Cool completely. The recipe says both cases and filling must be cold before filling.
Prepare an egg sweet firmer than ovos grossos. In the same book, ovos grossos are made from one arrátel of sugar and twelve eggs, cooked and broken up with a spoon; for Marvila, cook the mixture more firmly and add some toasted grated sponge cake. The sponge quantity and additional endpoint are undefined.
Once both preparations are cold, fill the cases. The source gives no amount per piece, levelling method or closure.
Prepare sugar syrup at the espadana stage. The source publishes no ratio, temperature or operational test beyond the historical name of the stage.
Dip the pastries in the syrup, lift them out with a skimmer and arrange them on the serving plate.
Dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon. The recipe ends without drying, storage or shelf-life instructions.
Sources for this recipe
The quantities and method were checked against the references below. Family recipes may vary; where no single official formula exists, we present a representative practical version and say so plainly.
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