Pastry Post-Doc in Portugal: Saboia

When we first read Fabrico Proprio, we were particularly intrigued by the saboia cake. It almost looked cartoonish, what with the striking brown polka dots on white background. The saboia is made of the trimmings of other chocolate cakes cut into a thin outer layer and jaunty polka dots, and filled in with whipped cream. Apparently, the saboia used to be popular in the 1940s, but is now sold in very few stores in Lisbon, in fact it may only be one, Central da Baixa (Rua Áurea 94, Lisbon). Like the saboia, this cafe is a holdover from an earlier time, somewhere between the present day and the elegant Manueline architecture. The saboia was super rich, and the chocolate cake parts had a fudgy consistency. This is definitely a special occasion cake. Even more intriguingly, I haven’t found a single recipe for this complicated cake online.