Bacon or heavenly tocinillo

How to prepare tocinillo de cielo . In these vacations we have recharged batteries to the maximum, rest and fun alike.

We have had very good moments, one of them has been in Colunga, a beautiful little town in the Asturian paradise. We walked through the famous town where the series Doctor Mateo: Lastres was recorded, we had an aperitif in Colunga, we made a walking route to La Isla even with a bathroom included and the best was, without a doubt, lunch and after dinner with Carlos Noceda and his family .

A full-fledged homage where that Asturian gene of hospitality comes out at all times that makes you feel at home. The menu was impressive, salmon with wasabi and lime mayonnaise, grilled provolone cheese, grilled vegetable ratatouille, Asturian steaks and a final luxury finish, a tocinillo with which you went up to heaven . A sweet recipe from the great Carmen Moutas   that you have to make yes or yes.

I am sure that today’s sweet recipe will become one of the most valued. Worth sharing from generation to generation.

I present you a forceful recipe that for its appearance, texture and origin bears the name of divine, a heavenly dessert with which you will sin again and again.

Preparation of the caramel for the tocinillo de cielo

1. We put a saucepan or a frying pan on the fire at medium intensity so that it reaches temperature.
2. We add the ingredients in the following order. 5 tablespoons of white granulated sugar and a little water (about 4 tablespoons).
3. Leave over medium heat without stirring (at first we should not move the sugar with a wooden spoon because it will weigh down).
4. We will see how little by little small bubbles begin to form and the sugar changes color.
5. When this happens we remove, now yes, with a wooden spoon and we help to mix everything.
6. Remove from the heat and continue stirring until it reaches that roasted honey caramel color.
7. We let it temper for a minute. We bathe the mold we are going to use with the liquid caramel, first covering the bottom and then turning or tilting little by little through the walls of the mold.
8. Always until all the base and part of the sides are impregnated with caramel.
9. Carmen prepares it in a crown-shaped aluminum mold, like the one you can see in the photo, says that contact with the water bath is better this way.
10. Once the caramel has hardened, you will see how small cracks are formed, we reserve for the next step.

Preparation of the sky bacon

1. Heat the 500 ml of water in a saucepan, add half a kilo of sugar.
2. Let it boil over high heat for about 3 minutes. Then we very calmly let a light syrup form at medium-low temperature for another 12 minutes or so.
3. Once done we remove from the fire and let it warm.
4. We separate the eggs, it is best to crack the egg with more care than normal. Exactly through the center to make an opening between the two halves in which the thumb fits. We can help ourselves with a knife.
5. We hold the egg in a bowl and with the wider end down, carefully lift the smaller half of the shell.
6. Part of the white will fall into the bowl, while the yolk will remain in the larger half of the shell.
7. Carefully slide the yolk towards the small piece of the shell. Then back to the big one so that the rest of the white falls into the bowl.
8. And from there to another bowl with the rest of the yolks that we have separated. It’s easy, after doing it several times the practice will make it super easy.

Bacon of the sky pudding

1. We beat the twelve yolks with manual rods as if you were going to prepare an omelette. We should not use the mixer because there is a lot of air and we can spoil the future dessert.
2. We incorporate the yolks little by little to the syrup without stopping stirring. We have to add it little by little with great care, because otherwise it could start curdling the eggs and we would have the dessert in half.
3. When we have everything well integrated we go through a strainer to remove any lumps that have formed by cooking the yolks.
4. Pour the cream into the mold with the caramel and then put it in a saucepan with a lid to which we have previously added water that does not cover the mold.
5. Let’s cook it in a water bath. A technique for cooking food in a saucepan, which in turn is in a container of water.
6. It is so that it is cooked by means of the hot water and not by the heat of the oven or the kitchen directly.
7. We heat the casserole and as soon as it begins to boil cover it.
8. The water bath will be at a gentle temperature for 30 minutes from when it boils or until it is well set.

Follow the step by step that you will find in the album of this recipe for sky tocinillos , they will come out the first time.

Final presentation of the tocinillo de cielo

1. To avoid that the drops that fall from the lid by the condensation of the water spoil the bacon of heaven we have a great trick. We place between the lid and the casserole a kitchen cloth or a cotton napkin that absorbs the water.
2. You can use this trick for this dessert or for others like pudding or egg custard. Carmen told me that with this step we will get the best tocinillo de cielo.
3. We let it cool at room temperature for half an hour and then we put it in the fridge for about 5 hours until it has cooled well and is compact, from one day to the next it is much better.
4. To present it to our guests, it is best to take it out of the fridge a few minutes before and pass a very sharp knife along the edges of the mold before turning it over.
5. If you are afraid of the knife, another trick is to put the mold in a little hot water. To melt the caramel a little and make the bacon slip, it will come out much easier.
6. I assure you that one of the best desserts with egg that I have tried. It is intense, very sweet, almost cloying and has an incredible texture, soft but compact at the same time. You will tell me your results, a fantastic taste.

Curiosities about the tocinillo de cielo

• The Sky Bacon is a dessert made from caramelized egg yolk and sugar. Compact, fair and an intense yellow color, which they say has its origin in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz).
• Already in 1324 it is documented that the nuns of the Convento de Espíritu Santo in Jerez de la Frontera prepared a dessert very similar to the current one. In which they used the yolks left over from the clarification of the wine of the area.
• It is one of the most emblematic desserts of Spanish pastry and is not well known outside our borders.
• Although this recipe is of Jerez origin, it has a very beautiful history that comes from Asturias. Carmen told me that she inherited this recipe from her mother  Carmina Cimadevilla , who in turn obtained it at the  Hotel Sagrario (in Pravia) .
• It was a dessert with a huge reputation in the hotel and the owner passed it to Carmina. I have tried many types of bacon from heaven and I assure you that the texture of this is incredible.