Broas de Milho Doces

These are the cakes my grandmother's neighbors in Minho would bring when they came to visit. Small golden rounds wrapped in cloth napkins, still warm from the oven, filling the kitchen with that unmistakable smell of toasted corn. Avó Leonor wasn't from the north, but she learned to make them because she loved them. And she taught me.

Broas de milho doces are peasant baking at its purest. Corn flour, a little wheat to hold it together, sugar, eggs, butter. That's it. The corn does the work. Good milho flour has a sweetness all its own, earthy and golden, the taste of northern Portugal in every crumb.

In Minho, corn is everything. It arrived from the Americas five centuries ago and took over the region's kitchens. Broa, the dense corn bread, is eaten at every meal. These sweet broas are the festive cousins, made for romarias, for visits, for wrapping up and taking to a neighbor who just had a baby. They're not fancy. They're not trying to be anything other than what they are.

At Mesa da Avó, I serve these with strong coffee at the end of the meal. People always ask for the recipe. They can't believe something so simple tastes so good. But that's Portuguese baking. The humblest ingredients, treated with respect, become something you can't stop eating.