Tocinillo de cielo

The name means, literally, Heavenly Little Pork o Bacon from Heaven ("tocino" can be used to name the pork or the bacon). As you can see, this time is better to use the original name.

A very traditional and old-fashioned Andalusian recipe (southern Spain), probably appearing in a convent and later spreading to the rest of the population.

To make this recipe, I recommend using containers that contain sterilized egg yolk and that allow a correct dosage of the yolks without any danger of contamination. I also recommend making the recipe exactly as indicated, since it is the result of many errors and therefore it is empirically proven. If you decide to make the recipe with fresh eggs, I always recommend using large eggs (size L or XL).

INGREDIENTS :

• 10 egg yolks
• 250 grams (9 oz) of sugar
• Water
• Lemon

First we are going to make the syrup. To do this, we pour the sugar into a saucepan and enough water to dissolve it, all over very low heat. Add the water by tablespoons, not cups. I recommend adding two or three drops of lemon juice to prevent it from crystallizing. When the sugar has dissolved, add another half a cup of water and stir until a few drops fall when lifting the spoon and at the end a fine thread forms between the spoon and the syrup. If so, you are at the strand point.

We remove the heat and let it cool until it is warm. When it happens we add the yolks one by one, stirring to mix well. Do not add the yolks with the hot syrup or the egg will curdle and no tocinillo de cielo will come from there. Keep small silicone bowls, ramekins or containers on hand where you can deposit part of the dough and they can go to the oven, so that each bowl represents an individual serving. If you do not want to make individual tocinillos de cielo, you can make a single one that we will cut to serve the individual portions.

Now is the time to take it to the oven. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and arrange a deep tray full of water in such a way that when placing the containers where we have poured the dough, the liquid reaches the middle of them. Leave in the oven for at least half an hour, or until when you pinch with a toothpick it comes out of them completely dry. It is VERY IMPORTANT to cover the individual containers with aluminum foil to prevent water or steam from entering, as they could be cut. It has happened to me more than once and I have run out of tocinillo de cielo.

When this happens, we take them out and let them cool until we can unmold them.

And the proof of the truth arrives ... how do we know if we have made some good tocinillo de cielo? In the first place, because they have curdled. Secondly, because when tasting them they should not taste like eggs and, very important, the grains of sugar should not be felt on the palate.

If everything went well, eat them and enjoy!