A piece of cake

By Cristina Alcock features@algarveresident.com

Breathtaking creations for all occasions fill the small display area at Confeitaria Ana Sara, a bakery that opened three years ago in Armação de Pêra and where Tininha and her mother, Maria Amélia, make everything from traditional regional desserts to birthday, christening and wedding cakes.

If ever there was a personification of a cake-maker, Tininha would be it. Petite and smiley, her passion for baking is clear, right down to the little cupcakes that decorate her shoes.

After making cakes for fun for around 20 years, Tininha began making her sweet creations for a local coffee shop before setting up on her own. Initially working from home, word soon spread and an increase in demand led Tininha to open her own premises three years ago.

Since then, she has remained one of the most sought-after cake-makers in the area, supplying most of the town’s coffee shops as well as the five-star Vila Vita Parc with her delightful traditional treats. Making the typical Dom Rodrigos, almond tarts and fig cheese, amongst other regional specialities, Tininha completed her first Cake Design course in 2006, and has done two or three training courses every year ever since. And although the traditional cakes are continuously in demand, it’s in the more artistic creations that the pastry chef can really let her imagination take over.

With fillings ranging from the simple sponge, chocolate and the traditional almond to carrot, orange, pineapple and tutti-frutti, each cake is completely personalised according to the wishes of the customer. “People sometimes bring a photograph of what they want, or they can look at our photos for ideas,” explains the cake designer. “Most people come in with a theme in mind and say ‘As long as it’s within this theme, do as you wish’. That’s what I like to hear,” she smiles.

In order to create the different elements in these elaborate cakes, Tininha explains that they always recommend flavoured sugar paste – particularly tutti-frutti flavour for children “because it tastes like bubblegum” – to cover the cake: “Not many people like this type of coating, and they often cut the cake and put the outer layer to the side. To avoid that and for people to eat the entire cake, we flavour the icing. It’s a bit more expensive, but for us it’s about quality, not quantity.”

For children’s birthday cakes, common requests are characters like Noddy, Ben 10, Spiderman and Hello Kitty, which are made separately and applied to the cake, with a chocolate, banana, strawberry or plain sponge filling. The running theme in the cakes for ladies is, unsurprisingly, bags, shoes and floral motifs, as can be seen in the many requests for the legendary Chanel handbag, the Louis Vuitton trunk or the red-heeled Christian Louboutin court shoes.

Anniversaries, christenings and holidays are also represented in icing, but for some of Tininha’s most impressive creations, weddings have inspired the most varied of cakes.

From desert island themes with starfish tiers and crashing waves to Hollywood-inspired film sets, the owner ensures each cake is as detailed as possible. “I always try to personalise the figures and I ask customers about the person’s hair colour and eye colour, right down to what they will be wearing. It’s these details that make it special,” says Tininha. The figures are then lacquered to be kept as keepsakes.

Each of these superb cakes takes around 20 hours to make, depending on how elaborate they are (Tininha and her mother often work into the night when they are free from distractions), so must be ordered one to two weeks in advance. Of course the price of the cakes depends on the size, detail and work involved, although Tininha’s creativity enables her to work within the budget of each person.

Another popular idea is customised cupcakes for guests at weddings or birthday parties, as well as special holiday themes, such as Halloween or Valentine’s Day, whilst the Confeitaria also creates beautifully decorated biscuits of all shapes and colours.

Currently working towards a qualification to provide training at institutions like hospitality schools and to hold workshops, Tininha also takes part in exhibitions and competitions when possible, and this year used her skills to represent the best of the region’s sweets at a hospitality school in Macau as part of its Algarve Gastronomy Week.

Using techniques like painting and brush embroidery, Tininha also incorporates other elements to enhance each theme, like boat-shaped candles for nautical themes or tiny frogs for the countryside.

Attention to detail is paramount for this cake-maker, whose skill, passion and plenty of imagination make each creation unique.

Open Monday to Friday 9am-1pm and 3pm-7pm and Saturday from 9am to 1pm.

962 307 762