Dear Readers,
Easter break is already a memory but I confess that I have managed to charge my batteries.
I have spent some days with my family, having time at my disposal I have played in my kitchen, experimented with some recipes.
Lucky you readers that will profit from such fact during the next Posts.
Today’s recipe is an Easter Cake from my home region of Algarve, Portugal. Even though I am not a kid anymore, Easter time is one of my favourite festivities of the year and I remember my Grandmother preparing for each grandson this special cake.
It is called “Folar de Pascoa” and it is enjoyed during Easter Festivities.
My advice, once ready, slice it like a bread, eat it as it is or toast it, you can also add butter. The boiled eggs are to be removed and sliced, enjoyed together with the slices of Folar.
Your family and friends will be astonished with the mix of flavours and colours.
Here’s the shopping list:
350g of White Sugar
1kg of White Flour
1 large grated Lemon
15g of Fennel (Sweet Herb)
10g of Professional yeast
35g of lard
Q.B. Table salt
Q.B. Milk
Q.B. Cinnamon
Q.B. Powder Sugar
1 Egg Yolk for painting the cake
1 Boiled egg for each cake
Step 1) On a large container put the flower together with the sugar, Fennel (Sweet Herb), the grated lemon, cinnamon and the melted lard, mix it well;
Step 2) Mix the Yeast on a cup of hot water with a bit of flour and salt, leave it for 10 minutes;
Step 3) Add the yeast to the mixture and continue mixing, this time adding milk portion by portion till you have a well-mixed ball of dough;
Step 4) Cover this dough with a napkin and leave it to rest for at least one hour;
Step 5) Boil some eggs, you can decide to have more than one egg per cake;
Step 6) Check the dough, split in two portions, you can use some flour to make a dry ball of dough;
Step 7) On a large tray, place the baking paper, add some flour on the tray to avoid burning the cake;
Step 8) Leave the dough resting on the tray for another 30 minutes;
Step 9) Cut a piece of dough from each ball, the sufficient to make two separate cables per cake;
Step 10) On each ball of dough, make a hole, fist like size on the middle, place the boiled egg on this hole, than with the separated dough (the cable one) make a cross on the top of each cake, it must cover the egg/s and be fixed to the dough;
Step 11) Pre-heat the oven to 200°C for 10 minutes, then add the cakes, control after 20minutes, take the tray out and paint the cakes with the mixed egg yolk, put it back to the oven;
Step 12) Control the cooking process with a toothpick, do not let it burn, the cake is ready when the dough inside in thoroughly cooked.
Bon Apetit,
Chef Gourmet Du Art
