MealMap #83

A pastry eaten on a single day of the year — 6 November, the anniversary of a warrior-king's death in battle in 1632 — and above all in the western port city he founded. There is no fixed recipe; every town and every bakery has its own, mostly on a sponge or shortcrust base with layers of lemon or chocolate cream, jam and whipped cream. What unites them is the decoration: a profile portrait of the king on top, moulded in chocolate or marzipan. One bakery is credited with fixing the tradition around 1909, inspired by the German custom of special cakes on saints' days; a confectioner in the same city had been selling sweets with the king's image since the 1850s, when his statue went up on the square that now bears his name. A 2003 competition tried to standardise it with a portrait-free version — elderflower and blackcurrant creams, raspberry jelly and three chocolate triangles for a crown — but the bakeries kept their old ones. More than ten thousand are thought to be sold each November.

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