Traditional Portuguese Easter Recipe: Sweet Bread (Folar da Páscoa)

Recipe for Easter Sweet Bread

The Folar da Páscoa (Easter folar) is probably the most popular Portuguese Easter dish. A symbolic bread, deeply rooted in tradition all through the country.

Both Kriszti, our guide in Lisbon, and Beatriz, our Operations Manager in Porto, love this delicious dish, with each having their own story to tell! 

Kriszti, says that;

“While there is a sweet and savoury version, our family’s favourite is the sweet one. We are very spoiled, as we have our own personal folar expert — an aunt from a small village in Alentejo who has been baking this specialty for everyone in the surrounding area for 65 years (she will be 83 this year <3). Her secret is that she bakes these sweet treats in the bread oven next to her house that provided fresh bread for the village until her retirement. In Lisbon some of the best pastelerias to buy Easter folar are: Alcôa, Confeitaria Nacional or Pastelaria Versailles. They all are institutions on the topic of sweets, so you can´t go wrong with either!”

However, Beatriz, likes to get her hands dirty and make traditional Portuguese Easter Sweet (Folar da Páscoa) with her family on Easter. Like many “traditional” recipes, especially with this recipe, there will always be some slight variances based on preferences and family traditions.

Let’s jump into Beatriz’s simple recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• Egg wash (1 egg mixed with water, milk or cream)
• 100 grams sugar
• 110 grams milk
• Lemon zest
• 100 grams butter
• 25 grams yeast
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 500 grams flour

Preparation

1. Combine 2 eggs, sugar, milk, lemon zest, butter, yeast, cinnamon until they’re mixed thoroughly.
2. Add the flour, mix then kneed the dough (or use a mixer if you have!) until you get the proper consistency – less sticky and and becomes elastic (doesn’t break easily when pulled).
3. Put it in a bowl, cover it with a towel, and let it stand for one hour in a dry room.
4. Preheat your oven to 180° C.
5. After about one hour, separate the dough into 2 or 3 smaller pieces.
6. Make a simple egg wash and brush the balls of dough.
7. Put the bread in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until brown in color. That’s it! Super easy sweet bread.