Around the World in 12 Cakes - Month 8 - Portugal
Posted Aug 25th 2014 by Lena
Hello August! Where did you come from? If you’re anything like me, then you are struggling to understand where a good majority of the year has flown!
Perhaps the calendar months are escaping the winter weather here in Australia and are spending their days in sunny Portugal (with an average of over 3,000 hours of sunshine each year, why wouldn't you). Rather than escape to the other side of the country to experience the sunshine, I decided to celebrate the last month of winter with sunshine yellow Portuguese Tarts!
Legend has it that the monks of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos Monastery, which was established 1496 by King Manuel 1st) in Belém, in the 1700s. The monks used to sell the flaky pastries. The monastery was disbanded in 1833, however, Domingo Rafael Alves bought the recipe for the tarts and opened a bakery nearby where the monastery had once been – and sold the monk’s tarts.
These delicious morsels of silky egg custard goodness, with those perfectly imperfect burnish tops, are just the ticket to wave away those last few official moments of winter - just don't let your mind drift to you enjoying the sunshine in your swimmers - perhaps we aren't ready for winter to be over after all...