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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Cevapi - Kebab from Croatia

Ćevapi is one of the most famous dishes in Croatia, it is Croatia's kebab. Kebab is an Arabic word that means roasted meat.

It looks a bit different from the Turkish-origin kebab; it is a kind of sausage made with minced meat that can be beef, pork, lamb, or a mix.

It is eaten in a pita-type bread called Somun or Lepinja and accompanied by a sauce made from sour cream.

This dish is also widely consumed in other Balkan countries.

Ingredients for the Somun/lepinja (4 pita breads):

- 250 g wheat flour.

- 5 g Salt.

- 3 g dry baker's yeast.

- 155 g cold water.

Ingredients for Cevapi

- 800 g ground meat (mixturebeef and pork).

- 5 g Salt.

- 8 cloves of garlic.

- 5 g paprika.

- 1 egg.

- parsley.

- pepper.

- 1 onion.

Ingredients for the sauce

- Sour cream.

- Salt.

- Pepper.

- Chives.

Method:

11- Let's start with the bread. Put the flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl and mix well.

22- Add water and mix well, Sure, once the dough is compact, knead for 5 minutes.

33- Cover the bowl with cling film and let stand for one and a half hour.

44- This is how the dough looks after the first fermentation. It should double its size; the time it takes to ferment depends on the room temperature. Ideally, it should be at 24-25 degrees, otherwise, it might need more time to ferment.

55- Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, shape them into balls, and cover them again to let them ferment for another hour.

6- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celsius with the fan on.

7- Flatten each ball with your hands, and make marks on the surface with a knife to create a pattern.

8- Cook in the oven for 3 minutes until you see the bread puff up. The time depends on the oven; for me, it took 10 minutes. Keep the bread covered with a cloth while we prepare the rest.

9- Since sour cream is hard to find, I’m leaving a link to my blog where I explain how to make it: Sour Cream.

Put the sour cream in a jar and add the pepper, salt, and finely chopped chives. Stir well and keep it in the fridge.

10- Combine in a bowl the egg, pepper,paprika, salt, grated         garlic and parsley.

11- Add the meat and mix well.

12- Put some oil in your palms, take some ground meat to make sausages the size a finger. Put the sausages on a dish into the fridge until it is time to cook them.

13- Take a frying pan and fry the sausages, take the bread and cut in the middle as you see in the picture.

14- Add a few spoonfuls of the sauce, place the sausages in, and add the onion. If, like me, you find raw onion too strong, you can boil it in water for 15 minutes to reduce the acidity."

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Croacia

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