Pionono: an explosion of flavors

Dear guest, a typical sweet although with a high caloric load from the province of Granada is the pionono de Santa Fé. It is one of the oldest sweets in Spain and there are indications of the existence of a similar sweet in the Arab period.

Its main characteristic is to have a cylindrical and somewhat plump appearance: it is a syrupy sponge cake rolled up on itself.

Next I will give you the recipe for 15 units so that you can try to try at home the elaboration of this exquisite sweet:

FOR THE CAKE:

• 4 eggs L

• 80 sugar (divided into two parts)

• 50 g of flour for pastry

• 50 g of cornstarch

• 30 g of whole milk

FOR THE PASTRY YOLK:

• 6 L eggs (338 g, shelled)

• same weight of sugar as eggs, in this case 338 g

• 180 g of water at room temperature

• 30 g of cornstarch

FOR THE SYRUP:

• 160 g of water

• 160 g of sugar

• rum to taste

• cinnamon powder to sprinkle when we assemble the cakes

TO TOAST:

•  sugar

 

The elaboration is complex, laborious and has many steps but it is worth trying. The effort will pay off later.

We prepare the pastry yolk.

1. In a bowl we mix the sugar with the cornstarch. We booked.

2. In a medium bowl, add the eggs together with the water and mix very well with some rods.

3. Pour into a medium saucepan through a strainer to remove the grating from the eggs.

4. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture, place at low heat (in a range of 1-6, I put heat 2), and cook without stopping stirring with the rods until the mixture thickens. It will take us between 7-10 minutes.

5. Once the mixture begins to thicken, it will thicken very quickly. So that you can guide yourself, the mixture will be ready in density when it has a temperature between 93º-96ºC. In the video you can see the consistency of the cream.

6. Remove from the heat and pour the cream into a large container. The larger it is, the less time it takes to cool.

7. Cover the skin with film and let it cool completely at room temperature.

We prepare the cake.

1. We preheat the oven to 200ºC with heat up and down.

2. We sift the flour together with the cornstarch, we reserve.

3. We separate the yolks from the whites.

4. In a medium bowl we add the yolks and begin to beat with some electric rods.

5. Add, little by little, only half of the sugar (40 g) as we beat, gradually increasing the speed. We must whiten the yolks, they will increase their volume.

6. Once they are ready, add the milk and mix with the rods at low speed until it is completely integrated. We booked.

7. We whip the whites together with the other half of the sugar (40 g) until obtaining firm and shiny peaks. We booked.

8. In a large bowl, pour the yolk mixture and begin to add, little by little, the mixture of dry ingredients. We will integrate both elements with smooth and enveloping movements, and we will not add more until both have been fully integrated.

9. Once we have added all the flour, we begin to add the meringue. We will do it in the same way, in batches and with soft and enveloping movements.

10. We introduce the mixture in a pastry bag.

1. To prevent the ends of the paper from lifting or moving when we scoop the dough, arrange some small "globs" of dough at the corners of the paper on the perforated tray. This way the paper will stay fixed.

2. Cut the tip of the pastry bag and pour the dough into a bowl. We will make a rectangle that will occupy almost the entire surface of the tray. Then we will fill the interior trying to exert the same pressure at all times.

3. Smooth the surface with the help of a spatula.

4. We put in the oven for 7-8 minutes. We will observe that it acquires a slight golden color on the surface. We are not interested in drying the cakes.

5. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a rack.

6. We repeat the process with the rest of the dough. This time we will have enough left to make half a cake like the first one we made. The cooking and process time will be the same as with the first one.

1. We add the water and sugar in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and let it come to a boil. The sugar should have completely dissolved.

2. Once it starts to boil, turn off the heat and let it cool completely.

3. Add rum to taste, mix and reserve.

We ride the Piononos de Santa Fé.

1. Place the cake face down on a clean work surface and, very carefully, remove the baking paper.

2. We turn the cake, keeping the golden part up, and place on the baking paper that we have just removed. This step has helped us to detach the cake from the paper, but we need it to remain in the same position.

3. With the help of a sharp knife, we cut the corners.  In this way we will give a cleaner finish, in addition to removing those drier parts.

4. Brush, generously, with the syrup over the entire surface of the cake.

5. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon to taste.

6. We spread a layer, not too thick, of pastry yolk. Keep in mind that if we add a lot of quantity, when rolling the cake, it will overflow.

7. We cut the cake in half, as I show you in the video. With the help of a spatula we reduce the amount of pastry yolk, leaving a very thin layer, in the part that will be the end of the roll. This small amount helps the cake stay together.

8. We roll up the way I show you in the video, we will try to exert a little tension so that there are no gaps, but not too much because the filling would come out.

9. We repeat the process with the other half of the cake that we have with the spread cream.

10. With the help of a very sharp knife, we cut the roll. In my case I have cut 5 cm long portions, but you can adjust them to your liking or according to the size of your cake.

11. We place each portion in a cupcake lace.

12. We repeated the same process with the other smaller plate, which corresponded in size to a half plate like the one we have just assembled.

13. We return to moisten the piononos once formed. Take, one by one, and soak the sides well with the help of the brush.

14. We put him back on his lace.

1. We introduce the rest of the pastry yolk in a pastry bag with a smooth nozzle of 1 cm in diameter.

2. We squirt a little pile on each pionono. It is a very soft and grateful cream when decorating.

3. We sprinkle sugar on each pile and burn with a blowtorch or shovel.

4. Enjoy it!