Alcobaça Friars’ Pudding — Formula Attributed to Maria de Lourdes Modesto
This is the formula attributed to Maria de Lourdes Modesto’s Cozinha Tradicional Portuguesa and reproduced by Globo/GNT: 1 kg / 2.2 lb sugar, 250 ml / 8.5 fl oz water, four whole eggs and fourteen yolks, with butter only for greasing. The source gives no mould size, yield, oven temperature or preparation duration. A study of Alcobaça production documents a different commercial version using margarine, a higher sugar stage, 150°C / 300°F and 50 minutes; those parameters have not been merged into this recipe.
- Yields
- Not stated; mould size and capacity unpublished
- Prep
- Not stated; includes separating fourteen yolks, making the syrup and cooling it partially
- Cook
- 1 hour or slightly longer in the oven, plus an unstated syrup-cooking interval
Ingredients
- 1 kg / 2.2 lb Sugar
- 250 ml / 8.5 fl oz Water
- 4 Whole eggs
- 14 Egg yolks, in addition to the four whole eggs
- as needed; amount not stated Butter for greasing the mould
Method
Grease a pudding mould very thoroughly with butter. Prepare a bain-marie in which the mould can be covered and baked; the source gives no mould shape, capacity or oven temperature.
Heat the sugar with the 250 ml / 8.5 fl oz water and boil to paste stage, which the source identifies as thick syrup at 102°C / 216°F. Use a sugar thermometer if controlling the stage by temperature.
Meanwhile, combine the four whole eggs with the fourteen yolks without beating. The published instruction is to mix them, not to incorporate air.
Remove the syrup from the heat and let it cool slightly. Add it gradually to the eggs, stirring continuously. The source gives no temperature or duration for this cooling interval; avoid pouring boiling syrup directly onto the eggs.
Pour the mixture into the greased mould, cover it and bake it in the bain-marie for one hour or slightly longer. The source gives no oven temperature; do not fill that omission with the commercial study’s 150°C / 300°F, which documents a different composition and sugar stage.
Test with a skewer: the transcription says it should emerge moist but clean. Remove the mould carefully from the bain-marie, let it cool and unmould. Refrigerate promptly after the initial cooling interval.
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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