Tocino de Cielo

The recipe for tocino de cielo is one of the delicacies of our cuisine. Words fall short to describe the sensation that each spoonful of this intense, sweet, silky dessert produces. If you enjoy trying traditional dessert recipes, on Cocina-casera.com we share one of the most famous recipes, that of tocino de cielo. Try it and you'll see why it has this name!

History of tocino de cielo

This dessert has few ingredients, only four, yet it's so exquisite that those who try it tend to remember it. Tocino de cielo was created in 1924 at the Convent of the Holy Spirit in Jerez. Convents and monasteries often used eggs in their pastry recipes, like the capuchina tart created by the Capuchin Clare nuns.

This dessert is another example of monastic cuisine, in many convents they were given foodstuffs as gifts, such as eggs. The nuns used egg whites to lighten the wine and often found themselves with a large quantity of yolks. To reuse these yolks, they thought up recipes. In the case of tocino, sugar and water were used and thus this wonderful recipe came about.

How to make the recipe Tocino de Cielo

1. The dessert is better if you prepare it the day before, it needs to rest in the fridge. In a pot we add the water and the sugar to achieve a perfect syrup.
2. We first set the heat high for 3 minutes. Then we lower the heat because if it were high throughout the process we would get caramel instead of syrup.
3. Let it cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Turn off and let it settle. To know if we have the right point with a spoon take a little syrup and wet the thumb and index finger, if it forms like a small thread this is the ideal point.
4. To prepare the caramel that will go to the bottom of the mold is very simple: in another container that we put on the heat we add the tablespoons of water, the lemon juice and the sugar. Heat over medium heat and when the sugar begins to turn brown turn off the heat stir and pour into the mold of the tocino de cielo. Let it cool.
5. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and also add the whole egg. Beat for a few seconds.
6. Now we are going to gradually add to the yolks the syrup that we made but at the beginning add only a thread of syrup. The reason is that the syrup is very hot and if we add it all at once to the yolks they will curdle and we do not want that. Then add it very slowly while we beat it with a kitchen whisk. Once we add all the syrup pour the content into the caramelized mold.
7. We are going to cook it in a bain-marie, a cooking technique that is used for recipes with a delicate texture. It's easy, you can do it in the oven or on the stove. In the oven it involves placing a large tray with 300 ml of water and introducing the mold of the tocino de cielo in the water, cover the mold with aluminum foil so it does not form a crust and bake at 248 degrees for 35 minutes.
8. If you prefer to do the bbain-marie on the stove, use a large tray or pot (where the mold fits), add 300 ml of water and the mold inside the pot. The time is about 30-35 minutes. You'll notice when it sets. Once the cooking time has passed, turn off the heat, let it cool and when possible, place it in the fridge. It needs at least 4 hours to settle.
9. When serving, you'll see that its texture is denser and it has that characteristic color of the yolk and the caramel upon unmolding.

Notes and Tips

Did you like the recipe? You might also like the Neapolitan flan recipe.