Pao de Lo
A Portuguese sponge cake of eggs, sugar and a little flour, baked until the centre is still creamy, in 1 hour 10 minutes.
Photograph credit: Pão-de-ló (image of Pão de Ló on Wikidata Q123251283) by Adriao · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Where This Goes Wrong
Whisk the eggs until tripled.
Fold in the flour in three goes.
Check early if your oven runs hot.
How to Make Pao de Lo
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Heat the oven to 180°C / 355°F and line a 24 cm tin.
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Whisk the eggs, yolks, sugar, zest and salt for 10 minutes until pale and tripled in volume.
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Sift over the flour in three goes and fold in gently.
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Pour into the tin and bake for 40 minutes until golden and still creamy at the centre.
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Cool in the tin and dust with the icing sugar.
Related guide: Pan and tin size.
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Why the Method Works
Why is the middle still wet? Because that is how it is meant to be. Pão de ló is the Portuguese sponge cake, made from eggs, sugar and a very little flour, baked so that the outside sets but the centre stays creamy, almost like a custard, and it is served at Easter and Christmas.
Use a lot of eggs, ideally at room temperature. Whisk whole eggs and extra yolks with the sugar for at least 10 minutes with an electric mixer, until the mixture is pale, thick and has tripled in volume. It should leave a ribbon trail on the surface. Fold in the flour in three goes with a large spatula, as the air is the only raising agent, and a heavy hand deflates the foam.
Pour into a lined tin, bake at 180°C / 355°F for about 40 minutes, until the top is golden and the centre still wobbles slightly. Check at 35 minutes if your oven runs hot. Cool in the tin, where the cake sinks a little, and turn it out. It is dusted with sugar and eaten with a glass of sweet wine. It keeps for 3 days.
After You've Cooked It
Keeps for 3 days in a tin.
What to Serve Alongside
- Sweet wine
- Port
- Coffee
Pao de Lo Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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