'The best chocolate cake in the world', an internationally successful dessert that was born in a small workshop in Lisbon

Between the American author Frances Mayes and the Portuguese chef Carlos Braz Lopes there are several things in common. A success almost more decided by chance than by obsession and a search for new spaces to live or create. If Mayes bought the Bramasole villa in Cortona (Italy) and there he began to write memoirs that would travel around the world in 54 languages ​​and would end up being made into a film in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), Braz has acquired a house in the Alentejo where he wants to teach cooking courses after having become famous as the creator of O melhor bolo de chocolate do mundo, a pastry business specialized in a single product. The two would end up meeting in Lisbon and Braz would cook for the writer in her restaurant while they chatted like old friends. Carlos Braz Lopes was born in the Portuguese capital 68 years ago and studied Business Management. One of those choices made more by discard than by conviction. Much more inclined towards cooking, he opened the Mercado de Santa Clara restaurant in 1987, at the Feira da Ladra, where, among other desserts, he offered a chocolate cake that was lighter than the traditional ones due to the absence of flour and was increasingly in demand. .More informationThe chef had been inspired by the menu of the French pastry shop Fauchon. “I liked it because it seemed lighter than most chocolate cakes and I returned to Lisbon thinking about making something similar. It wasn't the same, I knew it wasn't the same, but it became the success of a bad copy,» he jokes one afternoon in February sitting at the table in the small establishment in Campo de Ourique where it all began around the year 2000. His dessert, Made with chocolate, egg and sugar, it is a succession of layers of meringue, mousse and chocolate coating. It is made with two variants, 53% or 70% cocoa. As it does not contain flour, it is a gluten-free product. In Portugal, a one kilo cake costs 36.50 euros and a slice, 3.10 euros.The creator of 'The best chocolate cake in the world', Carlos Braz, poses with a.João HenriquesAfter closing the restaurant, he opened Cocinamanía, a space where kitchen utensils were sold and courses were organized for gastronomy fans. But he didn't corner the cake. He was in demand and continued making it for a network of restaurants and individuals. An increasing clientele. In 2000, Carlos Braz Lopes decided to forget about the courses and focus on the production of his star dessert. When buyers told him that the cake was very good, its author always responded with a joke. «Good, no, it's the best cake in the world.» chocolate of the world. And so, without further ado, the name of his workshop and small store was born, opened in Campo de Ourique, in the same small premises where we held the interview, which has a wall full of press clippings reporting on the expansion of the brand, including a story in The New York Times regarding one of the stores opening in the city and later closing. In the United States there is now a store in Miami, which sells about 5,000 cakes a year. Despite the success and growth of the business, the one in Campo de Ourique remains the only store owned by Braz. There you can buy two other proposals outside the house's signature brand: an apple gratin and a cheesecake, also inherited from the days of the Feira da Ladra restaurant. “We almost make them more to serve our long-time customers than anything else,” admits the pastry chef.In the factory they never make more than 150 units a day, their maximum production capacity, since the manufacturing process is slow. João HenriquesO melhor bolo de chocolate do mundo now has franchises in several Portuguese and foreign cities. In Spain it has stores in Madrid and a distributor in Seville, in addition to being sold in some El Corte Inglés centers. Between them, around 20,000 units were shipped in 2023. It is also present in Panama, Angola, Australia, the United States and Brazil. The next country to receive Carlos Braz Lopes' chocolate cake will be Kuwait. The star recipe is no longer prepared in the small Campo de Ourique workshop. It is now produced in a factory in Lisbon, which has a dozen employees, who prepare all the cakes sold in Portugal: almost 29,000 last year. They never make more than 150 units a day, their maximum production capacity, since the manufacturing process is slow. “Each cake takes a minimum of an hour and a half to prepare,” explains the creator. Like all successful recipes, Braz Lopes does not reveal his secrets, except to his team of pastry chefs, who now make the cake. . He only cooks for his friends at home and, when he wants to treat them to a good dessert, he goes to Campo de Ourique for the “best chocolate bolo in the world.” In 2012 he published in Portugal the recipe volume O melhor chocolate book do mundo, which is in its fifth edition, with a prologue where the writer Frances Mayes agrees with the superlative assessment of the dessert. Don't expect, however, to find the magic formula for his famous cake, which is still kept under seven keys. As an alternative to his readers, Carlos Braz Lopes offered another similar recipe that he mockingly baptized as “Quase o melhor bolo de chocolate do mundo-Almost the best chocolate cake in the world.” You can follow EL PAÍS Gastro on Instagram and x.