Pastelaria ALCÔA

There is a good reason why this bakery wins national awards

Pastelaria ALCÔA is home of award winning cakes based on 12th Century traditions. The selection of pastries is so good here that you should always ask your baker for advice.

Pastelaria ALCÔA originated in a town outside of Lisbon and dates back to 1957, however the recipes of this award winning patisserie date back to a 12th Century monastery. Make sure to ask the counter assistants about their cakes and which ones have won the cake of the year award because Pastelaria ALCÔA have won awards for best cake in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. The main ingredient of many Portuguese cakes is egg yolk and we have heard a couple of different reasons for this and both are likely.

The first scenario is that in the Middle Ages, many recipes originated from the nuns and monasteries, when the nuns used copious amounts of egg whites to stiffen their habits. The nuns then put the surplus egg yolks to good use by making scrumptious cakes which they sold to help fund their monasteries.

Another reason and perhaps as a continuing trend, in the 18th and 19th centuries Portugal had an extensive egg production as the whites of eggs were exported to be used as a purifier in the process of making white wines. The excess egg yolks combined perfectly with imported sugar cane and the tradition of egg based Portuguese sweet cakes was revived.

Since 1957 Pastelaria ALCÔA have established three bakeries in Lisbon and the bakery which we visited is located on Rua Garrett in the district of Chiado. It really is a wonderful bakery, the staff are super friendly and the detail in some of the cakes is exquisite.

Pastelaria ALCÔA is located Here