{"id":30308,"date":"2024-06-02T19:30:55","date_gmt":"2024-06-02T17:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bake-street.com\/?p=30308"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:23:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:23:59","slug":"capuchina-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bake-street.com\/en\/capuchina-cake\/","title":{"rendered":"Capuchina Cake: A Delicious Journey Through Spanish Convent Sweets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s post makes me especially excited to share it with all of you because I had been wanting to prepare the famous Capuchina Cake<\/strong> for a long time. There are recipes that, for some strange reason, make me a little lazy to carry them out. And it’s a strange feeling because it’s not because I love cooking and I’m not usually lazy to prepare almost any recipe.<\/p>\n

It’s because I feel \u201cuneasy\u201d when I’m left with a surplus of egg whites. I know it may seem strange, but until I have not located all the quantities to give it a way out, I do not end up deciding to make it. There have been seasons that I have had glass jars in the fridge full of egg whites and, every time I saw them, I got a horrible dread, hahaha.<\/p>\n

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Capuchina Cake: A Delicious Journey Through Spanish Convent Sweets. It deserves each and every one of the compliments it receives. I must make a confession… I had never tasted this cake before. Yes, I have seen it on several occasions, but never had the pleasure of enjoying it. It is an absolutely exquisite bite, from the texture, consistency, flavor, moistness…. I find it absolutely incredible to achieve such a sensational result with so few ingredients.<\/p>\n

\"Capuchina <\/picture><\/div>\n

Convent sweets: the history and origin behind the Capuchina Cake.<\/h2>\n

Capuchina cake is one of the traditional nuns’ sweets made in cloistered convents, as its name suggests. Its name refers to the Capuchin nuns<\/strong>, belonging to the Order of the Capuchin Poor Clares<\/strong><\/a>, founded by Saint Clare.<\/p>\n

This dessert is a sponge cake made exclusively with egg yolks and generously sweetened with syrup<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Capuchin nuns, officially known as Poor Clare Capuchin Sisters, originated in the Middle Ages, although they did not arrive in Spain until the end of the 16th century, when they began to found their monasteries. As cloistered nuns, they were forbidden to leave the convent and dedicated themselves to a contemplative life, dividing their time between prayer and work. A fundamental part of this work was the elaboration of cakes, with which they helped the economy of the sisterhood and taught a trade to orphan girls or women with problems.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, in addition to embroidery and sewing, one of these trades was confectionery, whose products were sold through the lathes of the convents.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since the founder of the movement was Saint Clare, an Italian follower of Saint Francis, there was a tradition among the people of giving eggs to the monastery to obtain the saint’s favors. For this reason, it is easy to understand why the vast majority of cakes made by the nuns have a high proportion of egg whites or yolks, such as the tocino de cielo<\/strong><\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n

\"Capuchina <\/picture><\/div>\n

Use of yolks.<\/h3>\n

The convents located in areas such as C\u00e1diz obtained the yolks by donation from the winemakers of Sanl\u00facar, El Puerto de Santa Mar\u00eda and Jerez, since the egg whites were used in the clarification of the wines. In this post I will tell you more about this subject<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The convents have played a very important role in the history of traditional Spanish gastronomy, preserving the baking traditions, especially those of Arab origin, as evidenced by the ingredients used: cinnamon, honey, almonds, and the type of sweets in which they specialized, known as \u201cpan fruits\u201d or “fruits of the frying pan”. Some examples are torrijas<\/strong><\/a>, fried milk<\/strong><\/a>, casadielles<\/strong><\/a>, bu\u00f1uelos de viento<\/strong><\/a> or carnival flowers<\/strong><\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n

It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when the first establishments dedicated to the sale of pastries were opened. The C\u00e1diz confectioneries, as their name indicates, were originally owned by Genoese or Venetian merchants established in our city.<\/p>\n

\"Capuchina <\/picture><\/div>\n

How to make an authentic Capuchina Cake at home.<\/h2>\n

When I looked up how to make the Capuchina cake, on all the websites I saw that they added a small amount of corn starch to the whipped egg yolks. It made perfect sense to me since I thought it would help to keep the cake at the right volume. Until I read an article from a bakery in Madrid where they shared that the traditional sponge cake is made solely and exclusively with yolks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Of course, this totally changed my perspective because if they do it that way, it can and should be done that way.<\/p>\n

I kept researching until I found a video on Youtube<\/strong><\/a> where they shared the process of how to make it with yolks only. Plus a very important step; cooking at low temperature in a bain-marie<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

They bake this cake in flan molds, to make an individual dessert, and bake them at 194\u00baF\/90\u00baC for 40 minutes. In my case, I chose to increase the baking temperature, without overdoing it too much, and reduce the final baking time. Also, in the mold I use for this cake, the thickness of the cake is much lower, which means that the baking time is also greatly reduced.<\/p>\n

Another interesting fact that they share and I have only seen here, is that once they take the cake out, they cover it with syrup and let it rest for 24 hours<\/strong>. This rest helps the cake to absorb all the syrup resulting in a sensational texture and juiciness.<\/p>\n

To finish, cover the sponge cake with custard, sprinkle with icing and mark with a electric burner.<\/h3>\n

In the classic cake format, it is usual to decorate it with coffee meringue. This can be replaced by normal meringue or whipped cream, according to the taste of the people who are going to eat it. Another option is to omit this decoration and serve it only with the yolk and powdered sugar decoration.<\/p>\n