Piononos
Whole kitchen, in their Sweet Proposal for September, invites us to make a Spanish classic: “Piononos”. And honestly, this challenge made me really happy because I think these little pastries are an absolute delight. I’d actually come across them before, though under the popular nickname ‘Vicksvaporub’ at Confitería Rufino in Aracena. Apparently they’re typical of Granada, and legend has it they got their name because they were made in honor of Pope Pius IX. Of course, like with every recipe, the origin and authorship are still up for debate, but whoever made them first, these little pastries are wonderful.
What do we need?
(10-12 units)
For the sponge cake:
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
2 tablespoons of milk
a pinch of salt
Butter for greasing
For the syrup:
150 g (5.3 oz) sugar
150 ml (2/3 cup) water
A cinnamon stick
A splash of rum (optional)
For the yolk cream:
4 egg yolks
The weight of the yolks in sugar
The volume of the sugar in water
A pinch of cornstarch
How do we make them?
We start with the yolk cream so it has time to cool down.
First, make a syrup with equal parts water and sugar. Put both ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. How thick the yolk cream ends up depends, in part, on how much you cook the syrup down. For a filling-cream texture, let the syrup reach the soft-ball stage (reduce it down to the original water volume — that is, if you used 250 ml (1 cup) of water and 250 ml (1 cup) of sugar, take it off the heat once it’s reduced to 250 ml (1 cup) of syrup).
Let the syrup cool a bit. Meanwhile, separate the yolks and whisk them lightly. Once the syrup is lukewarm, add it to the yolks slowly, whisking constantly (off the heat), until you’ve added all the syrup.
Put it on low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens. (The longer you cook it, the thicker it gets.) You can add half a teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in a tablespoon of cold water.
Make the syrup by boiling all the ingredients for 5 minutes.
Line the baking tray with parchment paper and grease it with butter.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F) and start preparing the sponge cake.
Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt. Once they’re stiff, add the sugar little by little while still whisking, until it’s fully dissolved and the meringue is firm and glossy. Set aside.
In a bowl, combine the flour and cornstarch (sifted together), add the yolks and mix, then gradually add the milk to get a smooth, lump-free cream.
Add the yolk mixture to the meringue in several stages, folding gently with a spatula.
Carefully spread the batter on the prepared baking tray in a 4-5 mm (about 1/5 inch) thick layer. Place in the preheated oven on the middle rack. Pull it out as soon as it picks up a bit of color (about 7-8 minutes). Flip it onto another sheet of parchment paper. Let it cool slightly and brush it with the syrup.
Once it’s cool, spread a thin layer of yolk cream over the sponge sheet.
Cut strips about 3-4 cm (1.2-1.6 inches) wide and roll them up in a spiral. Place the little pastries vertically into paper cupcake liners. Add a teaspoon of cream on top of each one. Sprinkle with sugar and torch it with a kitchen blowtorch.
Tips:
The sponge cake has to be very thin. These quantities worked for me with my oven, which has a square tray that’s smaller than usual. I think if you double the amounts you’ll have enough for a regular-size tray. In any case, if it’s too much batter, better not to use it all or the sponge will end up too thick.
In principle, the sponge doesn’t need any baking powder because the whipped egg whites give it enough volume. Even so, next time I’ll try adding a pinch to see how it turns out.
Don’t forget to grease the parchment paper with butter — the sponge sheet is very thin and could easily tear when you try to peel it off.
- The recipe we followed is from Belenciaga, but using it as inspiration you can come up with all kinds of variations.
