While I was down there, I learned everything I could about cooking and baking. I watched people prepare a thing, then went about recreating it on my own. Or I tried a recipe (of which there were very few) and then tweaked it to be as I wanted the flavors to taste. When there were no recipes and I loved something, such as Enchiladas, or this Borracho Cake, I set about finding a way to make it.
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| Borracho Cake |
What I knew about this cake, from eating it at the pastry shop, was that it had a sponge cake type base, this sponge cake was perfectly saturated with a syrup flavored with cinnamon and rum, and the topping was a cornstarch pudding decorated with raisins. I needed three recipes, then:
- Sponge cake
- Syrup
- Cornstarch pudding
Borracho
If you know nothing about Spanish, you might not know that "borracho" means drunk, or "drunkard," depending on how it is used in a sentence. The fact that there is a fair amount of rum in the syrup is the reason for its name. And it is soooo good. |
| Older Style Borracho Cake |
The Joy of Cooking has a recipe for "sponge cake" that is a flexible recipe. There is a choice of 3 to 6 eggs, choice of flavorings, and so on. Over the years, I tried the recipe with 3, 4 5 or 6 eggs, and my favorite, hands down, was with just the three eggs. More and it just tastes "eggy."
A Note on Sponge Cake
When watching "The Great British Baking Show," I saw them making a "Victoria Sponge." Watching this intrigued me, because it looked like a regular batter cake, to me. What's the difference, you say?Well, what I have always known as a "sponge" cake is that is should be like a sponge; lots of nice little holes, light and fluffy. A sponge cake is leavened by beating air into eggs - first the yolks and the whites at the end before folding in. A true sponge cake uses no other leavening like baking powder. (My cake does cheat and uses a little baking powder, just to give it a boost.)
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| British type Sponge (aka Pound cake) vs American type Sponge |
Watching The Great British Baking Show, they used both butter and leavening in their "sponge" cake. What???
Come to find out, the British call sponge cake "foam cake." Their "sponge" cake is more like a pound cake. I recently ran into all this when I wanted to make a sponge cake type base for an American shortcake type application with fresh fruit on top. The cake I made, cobbling what I wanted from various (apparently British) "sponge cake" recipes and using the method used by Mary Berry, where she adds some flour along with the eggs as they are added, so the mixture does not look "curdled." This supposedly allows the cake to rise higher. I have no direct experience of this...
What resulted was a beautiful cake - don't get me wrong. It's just that it was in no way the kind of sponge cake I had wanted for my recipe. However, the cake was made, and that was that. And so I continued.
This is when I thought I just had to give my old Joy of Cooking tried and true sponge cake a go. The thing I was doing is using a new pan I had yet to use. I'd had it for years without even giving it a test drive. (So to speak). That first "sponge cake" (read: "pound cake") came out just beautifully in that pan. So now, would the real sponge cake do the same? It did.
A New Cake Pan
Since I was testing cakes in the pan, and now had one pound cake made in it, with absolutely beautiful results, true, and now this lovely sponge cake that was also beautiful, I opted to use it for a new Borracho cake look. In Guatemala, at that pastry shop, the Borracho was served in lovely squares, resting in a muffin type paper, but sopping with syrup. This new idea of mine was made in a lovely round pan with fluted edge, that creates an indented top when turned out. It's not very deep, but it does the trick, and it was perfect to hold the Cornstarch Pudding.
Here is what I do to make Borracho Cake:
Borracho Cake
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| Borracho Cake |
CAKE:
3 large egg yolks
1 cup (6.95 ounces / 197 grams) superfine sugar
¼ cup (60 ml) boiling water
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) almond extract
2 tablespoons (0.6 ounces / 17 grams) cornstarch
1 cup (4.35 ounces / 124 grams) all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons (0.2 ounces / 6 grams) baking powder
½ teaspoon (0.1 ounces / 2 grams) sale
3 large egg whites
SYRUP:
1 cup (235 ml) water
½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 (4-inch) stick true cinnamon
½ cup (118 ml) white rum
CORNSTARCH PUDDING:
1½ cups (353 ml) milk
1 (4-inch) stick true cinnamon
2 tablespoons (17 grams) cornstarch
6 tablespoons (83 grams) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Raisins, to decorate
Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment. Grease the parchment. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
In another mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks until very light in color, using a hand mixer or whisk. Beat in the sugar gradually; the mixture will become very thick. Beat in the hot water and continue beating until it cools slightly. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts. Spoon about a third of the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and fold in. Repeat until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Separately, in a squeaky-clean bowl, with super clean whisk or beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry-looking. Fold a third of the whites into the batter to loosen slightly, then add the remaining whites and gently fold in. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cake tests done in the center. Remove from oven and let set for about 10 minutes, then turn the cake onto a rack to cool slightly.
Make the syrup: While the cake is baking, place the water, sugar and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes to allow the flavor of cinnamon to permeate the water. Remove from heat, remove and discard the cinnamon stick and add the rum. Once the cake has cooled slightly, set it onto a dish with a rim and begin ladling the syrup over the cake. Use all the syrup. Allow the cake to completely cool.
Make the Cornstarch Pudding: In a saucepan, combine the cornstarch and sugar, then pour in the milk, whisking to combine. Add the cinnamon stick and place over medium heat and whisk until the mixture boils and thickens, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking constantly, for about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Remove the cinnamon stick and discard. Pour the pudding over the cake. If the cake has a well, as mine does, this can be done at once. If the cake has a flat top, cool the pudding slightly, placing a piece of plastic film directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin forming, then spread the pudding on top. Decorate with raisins, as desired.
My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.
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