Saturday, June 6, 2020

Pão de ló de Alfeizerão

This is a traditional Portuguese cake, which is basically a collapsed and eggy sponge cake. Legend says it was a failed sponge cake by nuns who suddenly found themselves hosting the King, but somehow the King loved the mistake more than the original and a new conventual sweet was born. My first attempt was a failure, but by the second attempt I think I nailed it. This is the recipe I used based mainly on the recipe and video by Clara de Sousa.

Ingredients
8 eggs (6 yolks, 2 whole), room temperature
100 grammes (1/2 cup) sugar
50 grammes (2/5 cup) self-raising flour, sifted

1. Line a 20-centimetre (8-inch) round cake tray with parchment paper. Pre-heat the oven at 220C.

2. Whisk eggs and sugar until mixture is more than double the volume and pale in colour. This usually takes about 10 minutes or so.

3. Fold in the flour until incorporated, careful not into overwork the batter.

4. Bake for 7-10 minutes (this one baked for precisely 9 minutes). The cake will be jiggly when you take it out-- bang it onto a surface to help it collapse (which is what this particular pao de lo is all about).

Don't eat it right out of the oven. Wait for it to cool down or, better yet, put it in the fridge and eat after a few hours or overnight. The texture and flavour will have matured better by then.

Here is what it looks like: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBFq93cHPob/