My quest to find the best bolo de bolacha began nearly two years ago but soon afterwards the mission sputtered for the longest time without any contenders, nearly grinding to a halt. In fact, I’d eaten so many DUDS in late 2014 and most of 2015 that I had stopped ordering it unless it was caseiro (homemade). I couldn’t handle all the disappointment (or calories) from mass production of what is essentially a cake made of cookies. The mission coughed and idled… until today.
We were invited to dinner at someone’s home, and Paulo generously offered to make a Portuguese dessert instead of taking the easy route, i.e., crossing the street to our local bakery, purveyor of fine foods such as bolo de nozes and pão com chouriço. He was quite determined to tackle this one on his own.
I should mention that this isn’t Paulo’s first bolo de bolacha. Far from it. But this one was certainly his best, although he was dubious about the outcome:
“I should’ve taken out the butter sooner.”
“It’s a bit chunky.”
“It’s grainy.”
“I could’ve reduced the sugar.”
Turns out it was all for naught, because the final bolo de bolacha was well-received by our hosts and the leftovers were eaten within a couple of days. Paulo gets full credit for it; I didn’t help him at all, except for making the coffee that the Maria cookies get dipped into before they’re stacked. Paulo HATES coffee, but for some reason he doesn’t mind it in bolo de bolacha — not even his own!
April 14, 2016
Album: Portugal [Spring 2016]
