Porto Santo Sponge Cake — Sugar-Cane Spirit Formula
Gastronomia Madeira publishes this as a traditional Madeiran formula and identifies it directly with Porto Santo: eight eggs plus seven additional yolks, equal weights of sugar and flour, lemon and sugar-cane spirit, baked in a round tin lined with parchment. The list distinguishes ‘8 eggs’ from ‘7 yolks’, while the method directs beating yolks and whites separately; the steps below make that reading explicit without changing the published proportions.
- Yields
- 1 cake; diameter and serving count not stated
- Prep
- Not stated
- Cook
- About 30 min at 200°C / 390°F
Ingredients
- 250 g / 8.8 oz Sugar
- 250 g / 8.8 oz Wheat flour
- 8 Eggs, separated
- 7 Additional egg yolks
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- From 1 lemon Lemon zest
- 50 ml / 1.7 fl oz Sugar-cane spirit
- Quantity not stated Butter for greasing
- To line the round tin Baking parchment
Method
Heat the oven to 200°C / 390°F. Grease a round tin with butter, line it with baking parchment and grease the parchment as well.
Separate the eight eggs. Using a mixer, beat their eight yolks and the seven additional yolks with the sugar until pale and creamy.
Add the lemon zest, flour and baking powder and fold together thoroughly.
Separately, whip the eight egg whites to stiff peaks and fold them into the mixture.
Lastly, mix in the sugar-cane spirit and pour the batter into the prepared tin.
Bake at 200°C / 390°F for about 30 minutes. The source publishes neither a doneness test nor cooling instructions.
Sources for this recipe
The quantities and method were checked against the references below. Family recipes may vary; where no single official formula exists, we present a representative practical version and say so plainly.
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