A “bola de Berlim” (Berlim ball) is deliciously simple: fried dough filled with pastry cream and coated with sugar. How can we enjoy this treat in an era of constant calorie counting?
Here’s the strategy. Do you know those times when we’re annoyed by the small predicaments of life? We’re waiting in an endless line, lock our keys inside the car, step on a puddle of oil, or lose our umbrella as it starts to rain. Instead of getting frustrated, we smile and think: we earned a bola de Berlim!
We rush to a pastry store and ask without a trace of guilt: “uma bola de Berlim, por favor.” We then enjoy the bola for what it really is: a necessary moment of zen.
This Bola de Berlim is from Tartine, a wonderful new bakery in Chiado where you can enjoy breakfast, brunch and other light meals. Tartine is located on Rua Serpa Pinto, 15, Lisbon, tel. 213429108. Click here for their website.
Salt of Portugal 
You can always choose one without cream which was always my favorite. I still remember the old ladies selling them at the beach, and the rush at recess to get one from the snack-bar at school.
More research on the brain is indeed required to understand why bolas taste so great on the beach, both with and without cream.
Your ideas are great!
Thank you 🙂
Just to let you know that you can also have Bola de Berlim without the pastry cream. It is fantastic also!
A Bola de Berlim without cream definitely deserves its own blog entry!