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Description: The Mirandesa Sweet Ball is an ex-libris of Miranda do Douro. It is a genuine sweet and one of the gastronomic icons of the municipality. It is a sweet cake, with an intense cinnamon flavor. The dough, similar to that of folar but thinner, is interspersed with layers of sugar and cinnamon filling.
Special characteristics: The Mirandesa Sweet Ball is a reference in the region, being especially consumed at Easter. Unlike most folars, it consists of a fluffy and moist dough, due to the filling.
Region: Terra Fria Transmontana.
Ingredients used: Wheat flour, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, butter, baker's yeast, olive oil and salt.
Preparation: The bread dough is added to the eggs and the mixture of the two fats (olive oil and butter). Beat the dough with the help of a little flour, so that it has the consistency of a dough that can be rolled out with the rolling pin. Roll out a sheet of dough, sprinkling the table and the rolling pin with flour. Stretch if and with it cover the bottom and sides of the board. The cinnamon is divided into seven parts and the sugar into eight. Sprinkle the dough with one part sugar and one part cinnamon. A new very thin layer is rolled out and placed in such a way as to cover only the bottom, that is, to cover only the sugar and cinnamon. These operations are repeated until seven layers are obtained. When the last layer is placed, the edges are joined together to obtain a cord. Sprinkle the last layer with the eighth part of the sugar. Bake in an oven at about 190 ºC for 25 to 30 minutes.
Know-how: The ball has six or seven layers of sugar and cinnamon, as more specific ingredients. The amount of ingredients depends on the weight of each ball and the layers cannot have holes, to prevent sugar and cinnamon from escaping.
Forms of commercialization: Bakeries, pastry shops, fairs and markets in the region.
Product availability throughout the year: All year round, but especially consumed at Easter.
Product history: Not much is known about who invented this sweet, but the oldest say that they kneaded the bread by hand and then, on the platform of the community oven (wood-fired), separated a little dough, added a few more ingredients and made the sweet ball.
Representativeness in local food: Bola Doce is one of the icons of Mirandese gastronomy, a mandatory presence on all tables at Easter time, made at home or purchased in pastry shops in the city, and is also present in any typical Mirandese snack throughout the year.
Other elements: The Municipality of Miranda do Douro, with the collaboration of the Association of Gastronomic Producers of the Lands of Miranda "Sabores de Miranda", has been organizing since 2013, the "Festa de Bola Doce e dos Produtos da Terra", which takes place on Easter weekend. During this event, the Mirandesa Sweet Ball Gastronomic Contest also takes place, where the best examples of this typical sweet of the Mirandese Plateau are awarded.
Product specification (pdf)
Source: Câmara Municipal de Miranda do Douro
Photo: Provided by the Municipality of Miranda do Douro.
