The Most Loved and the Easiest Portuguese desserts you will ever make

You have to think eggy, spongy, and sweet, if you are thinking about desserts from Portugal, and while Pastel de Nata ranks number 1 in their desserts, it is not one of the easier desserts. So, we bring you some of the best desserts to eat from Portugal and these are some of the easiest and best desserts you will make. Did we mention two of these are a 3 ingredient dessert? Try these for an authentic taste of Portugal right in the comfort of your home!

1. Pão de Ló de Ovar

(Single Serve)

Ingredients

• 10 egg yolks
• 3 whole eggs
• 100 gm all-purpose flour
• 200 gm caster sugar
• ½ tsp salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 250°C.
2. In a bowl whisk eggs with sugar manually or using an electric hand mixer, until smooth and creamy. You need it to be thick and smooth like whipped cream.
3. Sift flour and salt in a different bowl and mix.
4. Fold it into the egg bowl and mix thoroughly.
5. Put parchment paper in a muffin tray pocket, making sure to secure and fold it properly with enough protruding out from the tray.
6. Pour the prepared batter into the paper, until it fills up the muffin tray cavity without overspilling it.
7. Bake for 4-5 minutes in the preheated oven. It’s a small cake, so be careful that it doesn’t burn. Use 3 minutes if necessary.
8. Once fully baked, take out the tray and let the cake rest for 2-3 minutes and serve.

2. Leite de creme

(Makes 8 portions)

Ingredients

• 1 liter of milk
• 90 gm sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 40 gm cornstarch
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 lemon peel

Instructions

1. Take a saucepan, pour milk, add the cinnamon stick and lemon peel, and bring it to a boil.
2. In a heatproof mixing bowl, beat the sugar with the egg yolks and cornstarch. Set aside.
3. Once the milk starts to boil, discard the lemon peel and cinnamon stick and slowly add the milk to the egg yolk mixture, while whisking.
4. Pour back the liquid into the saucepan and keep whisking to dissolve any lumps left behind, on low heat until it has thickened.
5. Divide the custard between 8 ramekins, and cover the tops with cling films. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours to set.
6. When ready to serve, sprinkle the tops with granulated sugar and use the back of a heated spoon to caramelize the sugar. This will form a thin solid sugar disk you need to crack and eat.

3. Serradura

(Makes 10 portions)

Ingredients

• 1x 200 gm pack of Marie biscuits
• 475 ml heavy whipping cream
• 400 gm condensed milk, sweet

Optional garnishes: Ground cinnamon, toasted almonds, toasted coconut

Instructions

1. Seal the tea biscuits in a ziplock pouch and whack them with a rolling pin until they are reduced to fine crumbs.
2. Whisk the heavy cream using an electric mixer or do it by hand, until soft peaks form.
3. Pour the sweet condensed milk into the while and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.
4. Transfer the cream into a piping bag and snip off an edge for piping the cream.
5. Pick 10 dessert glasses, these could be wine or martini glasses or go for a big bowl to make it all in one place.
6. Strat with the cream first, pipe it to cover the bottom then follow with the biscuit crumbs. Keep going until you reach the top and finish it off with the whipped cream. Adjust the thickness to have 7 layers combined.
7. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours, with the top covered with cling film, before serving with your pick of the garnishes or as is.

4. Baba de Camelo

(Makes 8 servings)

Ingredients

• 400 gm dulce de leche (cooked condensed milk)
• 6 eggs
• 1 tsp powdered gelatin
• Crushed toasted almonds for decoration

Instructions

1. Take a bowl of little cold water, sprinkle the gelatin over it, and set aside to bloom.
2. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, take dulce de leche and whisk to remove any lumps, add the egg yolks, and whisk vigorously to combine both.
4. Take a separate bowl to whisk egg whites for a couple of minutes until stiff peaks form.
5. Drain the water from the gelatin and add it to the condensed milk mixture, whisk well to combine. Strain if needed, to get rid of any stubborn lumps.
6. Add ⅓ of the egg whites, whisk thoroughly then fold in the rest of it and mix gently to avoid deflating the mixture.
7. Transfer the mousse into 8 individual ramekins or use a big bowl and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
8. Serve as is or top it with crushed toasted almonds.