Portuguese sweets: “Bola de Berlim”

Even abroad, the “pastel de nata” is the most known Portuguese sweet, but there are tons of different sweets. When I say tons, I mean it!

Every year since 2007, there is a thematic national competition where 7 Portuguese “wonders” are elected. In 2017 it was the 7 most wonderful villages in Portugal and so on. 2019 was the year for the election of the 7 most “wonderful” Portuguese sweets. More than 900 different sweets were submitted to compete!

One of the sweets that all the Portuguese I met like, is “Bola de Berlim”. It literally means “Berlin ball” and is a spin of Germany’s “Berliner Pfannkuchen” doughnut. The only difference is that the Portuguese “Berliner” is slightly bigger and the filling is always an egg-yolk based cream.

Crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, it’s one of the favourite sweets of the Portuguese. Surprisingly, it becomes very popular in the summer on the coast where you can find vendors in the beaches suggesting to buy this sweet, in some cases, shouting their lungs out for your attention.

In some bakeries, like “Zé Natário” in Viana do Castelo, in the summer you can see a line of people waiting for “Bolas de Berlim”.

Have you ever tried “Bola de Berlim”? Did you like it?