Pão de Ló de Ovar

Appearance & taste

Pão de Ló de Ovar has the shape of a country loaf and is served in the mould lined with white paper. It consists of “ló”, a light, creamy, soft, yellow cake with a delicate, slightly moist, golden-brown crust, and a moist part inside, the “pito”. The crust is dark yellow to brown and even; where the cake has sunk, it may be slightly uneven and show small bubbles of batter. The pito is golden yellow like egg yolk, creamy and slightly runny and may run out when the cake is cut; the dry part is egg-yolk yellow and spongy.

The cake smells slightly of egg with a hint of caramel and tastes sweet and of egg. It is soft, of medium consistency and melts in the mouth. There are two sizes: the miniature, also called “Infantes”, at 100 to 125 g, 3 to 8 cm high and 11 to 12 cm in diameter, and the normal size at 485 to 1,500 g, 7 to 14 cm high and 16 to 28 cm in diameter.

Production

The ingredients are fresh eggs, white sugar, wheat flour (type 55) and optionally salt. First the eggs are beaten with the sugar and, if used, the salt for up to 20 minutes until the mixture turns whitish; then the sifted flour is stirred in slowly and evenly. According to the specification, when the mixture is exactly right depends on the baker’s experience.

The black or red clay baking mould is lined with baking paper that is folded eight times so that four equally spaced folds are formed, and cut with pinking shears. The mixture must be filled in so that it does not flow over the paper during baking. It is baked at 140 to 200 °C for 50 minutes to two hours, depending on the weight, under constant supervision: the baking time determines how much pito the cake has. It is done when the crust is golden brown and slightly moist and the part underneath is creamy. It cools in the mould, after which the paper is cut.

Origin & history

The area is the municipality of Ovar with the parishes of Esmoriz, Cortegaça, Maceda, Arada, Ovar, São João, São Vicente and Válega. According to the specification, the knowledge of how to make it has never left the municipality since the late 18th century.

The cake became known in connection with the Holy Week festivities. The clergyman Manuel Lírio found in the records of the Irmandade dos Passos brotherhood that in 1781 the cake was given to the clergy who carried the “Passo”, a litter for statues of saints, in the Holy Week procession. According to oral tradition, several families in Ovar made regional sweets in the 19th century; in 1877 Marques Gomes wrote that Pão de Ló and Ovos moles were increasingly gaining in reputation. According to the specification, in the 1890s the cake also became popular in the capital, because the crews of the local sailing boats, the “fragatas de Ovar”, gave it to the boat owners and their customers on feast days. Since the 1980s it has been present at most food fairs in Portugal.