Portuguese Sponge Cake (Pao de Lo)

Delicately sweet Pão de Ló is a classic Portuguese sponge cake that’s beloved for its soft gooey texture and simple ingredients and usually served around Easter or for special occasions. Perfect with coffee or tea, it’s a timeless dessert that feels both rustic and elegant.

Ingredients and substitutions for Pão de Ló

• Sugar: Superfine or caster sugar gives our cake it’s sweetness without additional flavor, allowing the flavors to really come to the fore. You could substitute with raw sugar or half and half with brown sugar, though your cake would have slightly more caramel flavor.
• Eggs: Room temperature eggs are essential to bind the ingredients which gives our cake that nice gooey texture.
• Plain flour: The finer crumb in plain flour gives our cake it's light texture.
• Olive Oil: Extra-virgin olive oil was used here as it adds a perfect fruity undertone to the gooey texture in the cake. It's best not to replace with other oil or butter here as it would likely not only create a different texture, but a less delightful flavor.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to bake Pão de Ló:

Step 1: Whip: The eggs, yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy.

Step 2: Oil: Stir 2 tablespoons of the whipped eggs with the oil until smooth. Pour into the whipped eggs and fold until combined.

Step 3: Sift and stir: Sift the flour over the egg oil mixture and fold until no dry patches remain in the batter.

Step 4: Bake: Line your cake tin with high parchment paper and pour the batter into your tin. Bake until golden and slightly jiggly.

Step 5: Serve: Allow to cool to warm or room temperature and serve alongside your favorite hot beverage. Dig in!

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Portuguese Sponge Cake (Pao de Lo)

Sylvie Taylor

Known for its custardy center with a delicate eggy richness and a fluffy, almost melt-in-your-mouth texture this Pão de Ló - Portuguese Sponge Cake requires minimal ingredients and a short bake time for a stellar cake.

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 16 minutes mins

Total Time 41 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Portuguese

Servings 6

Calories 159 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 100 grams / ½ cup superfine/caster sugar
• 180 grams / 4 medium eggs room temperature
• 32 grams / 2 medium egg yolks room temperature
• 30 grams / 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 53 grams / ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to 200C/400F and line a 15 cm or 6 inch round cake tin with enough parchment paper to overhang the edges on all sides by 2.5cm or 1.5 inches.
• Place the sugar, eggs and egg yolks into a large bowl and whip on high for 3 minutes until tripled in volume.
• Lower the speed to low-medium until the mixture is light, fluffy has a fine set of bubbles in appearance (think soft peak stage), approximately 12 minutes.
• Pour the olive oil into a separate bowl and stir two tablespoons of the whipped eggs into the oil and whisk until combined .
• Pour into the remaining egg mixture and fold until combined.
• Sift in the flour and fold until smooth and incorporated.
• Pour into your cake tin and place in the oven until lightly golden and still jiggly in the center, approximately 16 minutes.
• Remove and allow to cool and sit for several hours or preferably overnight.
• Drizzle a little olive oil on top and sprinkle with sea salt.
• Slice and serve.
• Dig in!

Notes

• Olive Oil: Extra-virgin olive oil was used here as it adds a perfect fruity undertone to the gooey texture in the cake. It's best not to replace with other oil or butter here as it would likely not only create a different texture, but a less delightful flavor.
• Eggs: Room temperature eggs are essential to bind the ingredients which gives our cake that nice gooey texture.
• Best served: Store in an airtight container at room temperature and it’s best to consume within 2 days for best quality.
• Cake tin: The cake tin used here was 6 inches / 15 centimeters so the cake is higher as it’s baked. A round springform pan or regular cake pan between 6-7 inches or 15-18 centimeters works best here.

Adapted from Nuno Mendes via Olive magazine and Nicola Lamb

Nutrition

Calories: 159kcal

Keyword cake, custard, snack cake

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