Any lover of traditional pastries will share our fascination for simpler doughs that they do magic with the minimum ingredients. Our latest discovery at home has been the pa de pessic de Vic, a specialty of the Catalan town that will remind many of so many biscuits or cocas related to Genoese, Spanish bread, Japanese castella or pão de ló Portuguese.
All these preparations share the fluffiness of a tender, soft and fresh crumb, to be eaten in pinches (hence the Catalan name), dipped in milk or coffee, or made into a base for cakes. As with these basic traditional sweets, there are many variants and recipes, but we have stayed with the one shared by Anna Genís from the book Cuina Catalan, for festivals and traditions scored by Narcís Clotet.
Other versions include pastry boosters, but it seemed to us that part of the essence of this delight lies precisely in achieving its texture only with the beating of the eggs, separating yolks and whites, and the combination with cornstarch (cornstarch) and a small amount of strength flour. We suppose that ordinary non-dairy flour would also work well, and it could probably be made with only cornstarch for gluten-free diets, perhaps with less structure in the crumb.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC with heat up and down, without air. Prepare a large rectangular tray by greasing it or covering it with parchment paper. Depending on the size, we will get a higher or lower cake.
Separate five yolks and five whites of the eggs, leaving a full egg. Add this whole egg to the yolks with 100 g of the sugar. Beat with a wire mixer for several minutes until a pale, very foamy and voluminous mixture is left.
Wash and dry the rods well. Begin to beat the whites at medium speed; once they begin to whiten, add the remaining 50 g of sugar and continue beating until ride them to the point of snow, but not strong at all to facilitate mixing.
Sift together the cornstarch with the flour over the yolk mixture and combine with a few rods. Add the whipped egg whites little by little using envolvent movements until they are fully integrated, being careful not to lower the volume.
Take to the mold or tray and tap on the countertop to remove the largest bubbles; prick them if necessary with a toothpick. Bake in the medium-low part of the oven a few 25-30 minutes, until when puncturing the center with a toothpick it comes out clean.
Wait a bit before unmolding on a rack; the easiest thing is to place the grid on the cake, turn it over so that it comes out and carefully remove the paper.
With what to accompany Vic’s pessic pa
This very tender sponge cake is pure fluffiness and needs to be enjoyed accompanied by a glass of milk, vegetable drink, coffee, tea or infusion, as it is perfect to dunk in what is put in front. As a basic dough we can use it to prepare a more elaborate cake, cutting it in half and soaking it well with a syrup, filling it with truffle, cream or jam, using it for a Calatrava bread, pudding or triffle, etc.
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