Soure Cross-Cut Sponge Cake

Also known as: Soure Cross-Cut Sponge Cake

A tall 24-egg sponge cut into a cross during baking to create a moister yellow centre.

Origin: Soure · Coimbra Region
Region: Soure · Coimbra
Season: Year-round · São Mateus · Easter

Sweetness

Richness

Difficulty

Pão-de-Ló de Soure is a tall, round, intensely yellow cake made with six whole eggs, eighteen additional yolks, sugar and little flour. Midway through its long bake, a cross is cut in the centre and the four points are pulled slightly outward, creating a lower, moister yellow area on top surrounded by more fully baked sponge.

Traditionally beaten in a glazed earthenware bowl with a cross-tipped wooden spoon and baked in a wood-fired oven, it is moist without being liquid and exceptionally yolk-rich.

Ingredients

whole eggs
egg yolks
sugar
wheat flour
butter for greasing

Taste & texture

Exceptionally yolk-rich, sweet and moist in the centre, with a lighter, more fully baked edge.

Variations

Traditional batches use 24 or 32 eggs; moisture depends on the timing of the cut and the oven.

Where to try it

At traditional Soure bakeries, including Padaria Dona Estrela, and during the São Mateus festivities.

Pairs well with

Cloth-filtered coffee or fortified wine.

History

The recipe has circulated in Soure since at least the mid-nineteenth century. The regional charter links it both to the town's former monasteries and to servants of aristocratic houses, who transmitted the formula and sold cakes for extra income.

In the early twentieth century it accompanied hot coffee at the São Mateus festivities. Traditional production continues, and Soure municipality now promotes it as a local product at national and international fairs.

Sources: visitarganil.pt · cm-soure.pt · cm-soure.pt

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