Frank's Recipes! Pan di Spagna

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Pan di Spagna

Pan di Spagna is quite similar to the Genoise, which Italians call pasta Genovese. It's a simple cake whose major function is to serve as an ingredient in other, more elaborate productions. He gives two recipes, one with and the other without yeast:

A:

1 cup (100 g) fine flour
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
6 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup (60 g) potato starch
1/2 ounce baker's yeast (use live bread yeast if need be)
The grated zest of a lemon
Milk
A pinch of salt

B:

4 yolks
5 whites (whipped to firm peaks)
1 cup (100 g) flour
1/2 cup (50 g) potato starch
1/2 cup sugar
A few drops orange water (or a drop of orange extract if need be)

Used hundreds of ways, and also consumed as is, this cake becomes irreplaceable when used as the container for the cassata and its relatives. The most difficult part about it is the baking, but covering it with foil and placing it in the exact center of the oven, which is kept moist through the addition of a can of water, will give you a perfect golden pan di Spagna provided you follow the instructions. Begin by beating the yolks, separately from the whites, together with the sugar and, if you like, a bit of vanilla extract. When the volume of the mixture has about tripled, fold in the flour (sprinkle it over the egg mixture as you work it in), and then add the yeast, which you will have dissolved in some warm milk, the grated lemon zest or orange extract, and a pinch of salt.

Put the pot on the top of a double boiler and while gently stirring with a wooden spoon, incorporate the whites, which should be beaten to firm peaks and the melted butter. Do not let the mixture boil! When it is thoroughly amalgamated pour it into a round 9-inch (24 cm) pan at least 6 inches (15 cm) deep, because pan di Spagna will rise. Bake in a preheated moderate (370 F, 180 C) oven for about 40 minutes (a toothpick inserted in the center should emerge dry).

Who invented this? It's difficult to say, though one thing is certain: the honey and molasses used by the ancients would never have allowed this cake to rise in the oven. Only sugar can do this, the sugar initially from canes, called cannamele, that the Arabs planted in Sicily and Spain. The Sicilian Constitution established by Frederick II in Palermo in 1231 defines "confectari" as those who work sugar, from whence confetti (candied almonds), confetture (jams) and so on.

It is certainly true that alchemists and convents begged many miracles from the sweet salt the crusaders brought home from the Holy Land; one is Pan di Spagna.

To make a cake for 6:

1 1/3 cups fine flour
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar (if you have a scale, you want the same weight as you have flour)
5 eggs, separated
Grated lemon or orange zest, or vanilla extract (about a teaspoon or so of whichever you prefer)
Butter for greasing the pan
Preheat your oven to 375 F (185 C).

Beat the yolks and the sugar until the mixture is pale yellow, light, and has expanded considerably in volume [tripled or more]. Whip the whites to firm peaks. Fold them into the yolks, and then fold the flour and the flavoring agent of your choice into everything. Grease and flour a fairly high-sided round 9-inch pan. Bake for about 40 minutes or until done (a toothpick inserted will come out dry, and the cake will pull away from the sides of the pan). Turn the cake out onto a rack to cool.

What to do with it once you've made it? In addition to Cassata it's perfect for making layer cakes and such (cut it in half, smother the bottom with icing or pastry cream, replace the top half, and continue to spread frosting or cream), and, if cut into thinner layers, also makes an excellent base for jelly rolls and other log-like cakes (use a square pan in this case).