Click on the image, above to submit to Pinterest.

Pan di Spagna

Pan di Spagna (Spanish Bread) is a traditional Italian recipe for an egg-based cake using potato starch that's a staple ingredient of many Italian dishes, such as tiramisu. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Italian version of Pan di Spagna.

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

55 minutes

Total Time:

70 minutes

Serves:

8

Rating:

Tags : Bread RecipesBaking RecipesCake RecipesItaly Recipes

The Pan di Spagna (literally 'Spanish Bread') is a fairly simple cake whose main function is to act as a base layers for cakes, pastries, trifles, Cassata etc It is also an essential ingredient in any proper Tiramisu. According to legend this cake is very old in origin and seems to harken back to the thirteenth century and the 'sweet salt' (ie sugar) that the crusaders brought home with them.

Ingredients:

100g fine flour
60g potato starch
150g sugar
6 eggs, separated
butter for greasing
grated zest of 1 lemon
3 drops vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Method:

First beat the egg yolks together, add the sugar and vanilla extract and keep beating until the volume of the mixture has turned a pale yellow at least tripled in volume. Whip the whites until they form stiff peaks then gently fold the whites into the egg yolk mixture. Spread the flour, potato starch, salt and lemon zest over the top and gently fold into the egg mixture. Ensure that you mix thoroughly but be gentle so as not to remove too much air from the mixture (otherwise it will collapse when cooking).

Grease a high-sided 22–25cm cake tin with butter, line the side with flour and the base with greaseproof paper (which should also be greased). Gently pour in the cake mixture, cover the top with greaseproof paper and place in the centre of an oven pre-heated to 180°C (350°F/Gas Mark 4) (I usually place a can or terrine dish full of water in the bottom of the oven to prevent drying) and bake for about 40 minutes (or until done). When the cake is ready, the top should be golden brown and a cocktail stick inserted into the cake should come out dry).

Remove the cake from the oven, tip onto a wire rack and allow to cool. As well as making tiramisu or cassata your can also make a layer cake from the Pan di Spagna by cutting in half, covering the base with icing or whipped cream, adding some sliced strawberries, covering with the top layer and covering with frosting. Pan di Spagna, if baked in a square tin and cut into thin layers also makes excellent Swiss rolls or ice-cream rolls by spreading the filling over the cake and rolling it up. It may not be part of the 'classic' recipe, but you can also add 3 tbsp cocoa powder into the mixture to produce a chocolate variant of this cake.

Place on a baking tray, brush with a beaten egg, scatter 15g of grated parmesan over the top and bake for 20–25 minutes at 180°C (350°F/Gas Mark 4) until golden brown in colour. Leave to cool slightly before serving.