Dessert
Pão de Ló (Portugal)
- Preparation time
- 45 min
- Servings
- serves 8
Ingredients
- Egg — to buy6
- Sugar — to buy200 g
- Salt — to buy1 pincée
- Flour — to buy150 g
- Sucre glace — to buypour saupoudrer
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180°C and generously butter then flour a round or loaf cake tin (traditional pão de ló doesn't use parchment paper).
Break the eggs into the mixer bowl with the sugar and a pinch of salt.
Whisk with an electric mixer at medium then high speed for 8-10 minutes, until the mixture triples in volume, becomes light, pale and forms a ribbon that stays visible on the surface for a few seconds: this long step, with no baking powder at all, is what gives the cake all its lightness.
Sift the flour over the mixture in 2-3 batches, and fold it in gently with a spatula, lifting the mixture from the bottom of the bowl rather than stirring in circles, so as not to knock out the air bubbles.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin, without pressing it down.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the centre is just set but still very moist: traditional pão de ló stays almost molten in the middle, so watch it closely from 20 minutes and don't wait for a knife to come out completely clean.
Let it cool for 10 minutes before unmolding very gently (the cake is fragile), and serve at room temperature, plain or lightly dusted with icing sugar.