Gimme a Little Sugar…

This little phrase can mean so much…when I say it to my grandkids, it definitely means “come to Gigi for your hugs & kisses!”, but when they say it to me, it usually means “PLEASE make us some BANANA PUDDING!!” HA HA!

But today I’m using it because it’s how I feel when I step into the Doce Creme Pastelaria in Corroios, Portugal! Sherley’s Tia knows all the best Portuguese foods to eat, is a wonderful cook…. she is WARM & LOVELY, easily the Queen of Hospitality!  This is one of her favorite places to drink bica and eat sweets, so of course, she wanted us to enjoy it too…before you even step inside this unassuming shop, you enjoy the window dressing of luscious desserts serving as artwork as well as culinary temptation!  Inside is a buzz of activity (open 6:30 am – 9:30 pm), with mainly locals enjoying the visit, but there’s a few visitors excited to have found this gem, lingering longingly at the choices to be made. And what choices! From the very sweet to the not so sweet, there’s something for everyone, for sure! Dessert is not complete without “uma bica” espresso coffee, the perfect start or finish of the day in Portugal.

Behind the “Doce Creme” (Sweet Cream) sign is the making & baking heart of this local pastelaria…Corroios, Portugal.
Pies, cakes, & delicacies just waiting to go HOME with you!
So many choices!! Nuts, fruit, cinnamon? Pastel da natas of course!!!
My first choice, sponge cake with cream and fruit…delicioso! Eaten of course with “uma bica”…espresso with a “spot” of milk.
SOOOOOO many delicious choices, I had to return several times to continue my taste testing!

Now I’ll admit, I didn’t start to drink coffee until my mid-40’s… my mom has been known to drink several cups a day, so I felt like I was sensitized to coffee in utero.  Ha!  Back home I drink my coffee SWEET, French Vanilla creamer (I have been known to travel with it!) & heaping spoonful of Splenda…Mr. D says it has to taste like “melted ice cream” for me to really enjoy it, and he’s right.  Well, he WAS right…I decided to experience the food especially, just as the locals do daily, so that meant drinking “uma bica” espresso with just a “spot” of milk.  I did add 3 packets of sugar in the raw to help with the shock of bitter (Mr. D calls that “real coffee flavor”) of this very strong coffee, but I grew to drink it with little else.  The cups are quite small, so two good swallows of bica and your done! It’s a perfect compliment to the desserts, and definitely an acquired taste!

Don’t the pictures just want to make you drool?!?

Look at all that delicious cream inside the Pastel da nata!
This tube holds 6 pastel da natas inside, I carried 3 of these home to share with Mr. D…we ate  4 right away, the rest went on a cookie sheet, froze them, then packed them inside a ziplock for later eating! I thaw them at room temp, then into toaster oven to reheat and make pastry crispy…ALMOST like eating them in Portugal!
Our tableful of desserts and cups of bica!

When I asked if I could take pictures inside the Doce Creme, the manager said “Yes! Now we’ll be FAMOUS!”  There is no website to go to, but PLEASE, PLEASE, if you are near LISBON at all, take a trip to DOCE CREME, I promise it will become part of your “saudade”!