A GIANT Portuguese Christmas cake, the Bolo Rei, was offered to 5,000 passers-by in Quarteira’s Rua Vasco da Gama last Saturday. Measuring 200 metres in length and weighing a total of 800 kilos, people were invited to enjoy a slice of the delicious cake that was baked by a team of 16 people.
Quarteira baker Henrique Graça had the idea of baking the cake to promote local commerce in the area at Christmastime. He commented: “This year, we made an even better cake than last year. Few words can express my emotions.” He also took the opportunity to emphasise the fact that the cake could not have been made without the sponsors, the local businesses and shop owners, who kindly supplied the ingredients.
In order to help distribute the huge number of slices to the general public, the local scout troupe was enlisted to help, along with additional bakery staff.
It took a total of 42 hours to bake the mammoth cake, whose ingredients included a total of 6,200 eggs, 375 kilos of flour, 150 kilos of sugar, 190 kilos of crystallised fruit, 45 kilos of raisins, 45 kilos of pine nuts, 35 kilos of almonds, 30 kilos of mixed nuts and five kilos of broad beans.
The cake was not, however, sufficiently large to beat the Guinness World Record, but President of Loulé Câmara, Seruca Emídio, remained buoyant, stating that the aim would be to beat the world record next year.
