Pan de Cádiz recipe of the dessert

The origin of Pan de Cádiz is uncertain.

According to legend, back in the 19th century during the Peninsular War, the French laid siege to the lands of Cádiz, exerting pressure and control over the population and preventing supplies and food from entering the city.

The wheat shortage led people to use one of the ingredients that was abundant at the time—almonds—to make bread. It is said that at the Customs Palace there was a large shipment of almonds destined for export, but they couldn’t ship it out. So the people of Cádiz decided to make a bread based on almonds, a kind of marzipan.

This legend is rather questionable, since it’s unlikely anyone would use a more expensive ingredient than wheat to bake bread.

Others attribute the origin of this dessert to the pastry chef Antonio Valls Garrido, a 19th-century resident of Cádiz. He created the bread in the shape of a chest so that sweet treasures—candied fruits, egg yolk paste, angel hair squash, or sweet potato cream—could be stored inside.

Today it is a widely enjoyed dessert throughout Spain during the Christmas season.

Fillings for Pan de Cádiz vary greatly, although the most traditional are candied egg yolk and candied sweet potato. The version I’m sharing has yolk marzipan and toasted almond marzipan.

Ingredients for the wrapping marzipan:

- 250 g raw ground Marcona almonds.

- 250 g powdered sugar.

- 1 egg white.

- 1 wafer.

Ingredients for the filling:

first filling (egg yolk)

- 150 g raw ground Marcona almonds.

- 150 g powdered sugar.

- as many egg yolks as needed to make a homogeneous dough.

second filling (toasted almond)

- 150 g toasted ground Marcona almonds.

- 150 g powdered sugar.

- 1/2 Egg white

Method:

1- To make the marzipan base, separate one egg white from its yolk and place it in a bowl.

2- Add raw ground Marcona almonds and sifted powdered sugar to prevent lumps. Mix well until you form a compact dough like the one you see in the photo; just mix, there’s no need to knead.

3- Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 2 hours while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

4- In another bowl, prepare the second filling by mixing the ground toasted Marcona almonds with the egg white until well combined.

5- For the first filling, in another bowl mix the raw ground Marcona almonds, the egg yolk, and sifted powdered sugar. Mix well until a dough forms.

6- Divide the marzipan dough into three portions.Weigh them so that one portion is 25% larger than the others; this will be the piece used to wrap the loaf.

7- Place a wafer on the base. On top of it, lay one of the three pieces of marzipan dough rolled out with a rolling pin to about 0.5 cm thickness. Spread the toasted almond filling over this marzipan layer.

8- With the other small piece of marzipan dough, roll out another 0.5 cm-thick sheet and place the yolk filling on top.

9- With the remaining piece of marzipan dough, roll out a large sheet that will serve to wrap the entire loaf.

10- Using a knife, make diagonal slashes and brush the entire surface with beaten egg.

This step helps give the pan de Cádiz a golden, glossy finish and ensures an even bake.

11- Bake in the oven at 200 °C (top heat only) for 10 minutes, or until the surface is nicely golden brown.

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

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Carne al toro - Recipe from Cádiz

Carne al toro is a traditional recipe from the province of Cádiz.

This dish, as its name suggests, was initially made with bull meat, but today it is made with any type of meat that is cooked in the same way, with vegetables and wine.

The origin of the recipe is relatively recent, in the 70s of the last century (50 years ago), a restaurant in Puerto de Santa María called 'Tendido 4' popularized it, people went to the restaurant to eat this dish and later it began to be cooked in other restaurants and bars of the area.

The recipe was devised by Luisa Aldana, the mother of Fernando Fernández, the owner of the restaurant El Tendido 4. The Fernández family was well known in the city because they were dedicated to the world of greengrocers.

Ingredients :

- 800 g beef to stew.

- 1 onion.

- 1 red pepper.

- 1 green pepper.

- 2 carrots.

- 2 garlic cloves.

- 100 ml crushed tomato.

- 1 slice toasted bread.

- 1 glass red wine.

- 1/2 glass water.

- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika.

- 1 teaspoon spicy paprika.

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves.

- 1 teaspoon oregano.

- 1 bay leaf.

- olive oil.

- Salt.

- Pepper.

Method:

1- Season the meat with salt and pepper and sautée it in a pot with a little oil.

2- Once the meeting starts to be done, set aside.

3- Peel the onion, carrots and cut them into medium pieces along with the red and green peppers.

4- Sauté in the same pot where you cooked the meat.

5- Add the meat, crushed garlic or garlic cut into very small pieces, bread, bay leaves and crushed tomato.

6- Add the salt, all the spices and the wine, cook until slightly reduced.

7- Add some water just to cover the meat, put the lid of the pressure cooker on, and turn the heat to maximum until the steam starts to come out, then set the heat to minimum and cook for 30 or 40 minutes.

8- Use some chips as side dish , you can also accompany it with rice or eat it alone.

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools:  

Favourite cooking tools

Receta en Español

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Chickpeas with prawns - Recipe from Cádiz

Chickpeas with prawns is a very typical recipe from the province of Cadiz, it is very tasty.

Ingredients (2 people):

- 400 g chickpeas.

- 200 g prawns.

- 1 big onion.

- 1 green pepper.

- 1 tomato.

- 2 cloves of garlic.

- parsley.

- paprika.

- oil.

- salt.

- 1 carrot.

- 1 /4 dry ñora pepper.

- 2 bay leaf.

- 50 ml white wine.

- a few strands of saffron.

- 10 ml tomato sauce.

Method:

1- Soak the chickpeas the night before.

2- We cook the chickpeas in a pressure cooker with a bit of salt and water, put the lid on and first put on high heat, once the steam starts coming out, put on low heat and cook for 1 hour.

3- Place the prawns in a pot with enough water to cover them by about two fingers. Boil for a few minutes until they turn red. Save the broth. Peel the prawns once they are cooled. If you bought pre-cooked prawns, peel them and make a broth using the shells.

4- Turn the vegetables into slices.

5- Sauté the onion and garlic in a bit of oil until the onion becomes translucent.

6- Add bay leaf and ñora, sautée for one more minute.

7- Add the rest of vegetables and cook until they are soft.

8- Add the broth , get rid of the bay leaf and crush everything.

9- Add the cooked chickpeas, salt, pepper, saffron, wine, and parsley. Cook for 5 more minutes to let the alcohol from the wine evaporate.

10- Add the prawns.

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

Bandera: De Ulaidh - Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 4.0, Enlace