Anyone who visits the village of São Bento in the tourist town of Maragogi quickly discovers that its main attraction is not the beautiful beaches, but the famous goma cakes – which are not really cakes at all, but rather biscuits known as sequilhos that are sold everywhere. For nearly 40 years, Marlene has been dedicated to producing these small cakes made with pure pressed coconut milk, eggs, margarine, salt, sugar, and cornstarch. In her home is the small Factory of Seven Women, where seven women each produce about 15 kilograms of dough per day, and dozens of tourists come and go with bags full of cakes. There, visitors can witness the handmade shaping of the sequilhos into seashell shapes. The guava, dulce de leche, and brigadeiro versions are individually filled by hand with care. Marlene created these fillings because, as she says, “people want something new.” With her commercial sense and talent, the cake is a success, and she even takes custom orders for other states.