I’ve been thinking a lot about my mom lately which has led me to reminisce on family recipes.   My mom was an excellent cook.  She made wonderful meals and unbelievable pastries.  She wasn’t much into cookies or cakes.  She slept only 3 hours a night and in the mornings when everyone was sleeping, she would be making some delicious pastry for breakfast.  Mom included me in the kitchen a lot.  I was her official taster.  I had the last word on the al dente condition of pasta, the need for mustard in our Enslada Rusa (potato salad) and salt on any dish.  The funny thing about salt is that mom would season with salt perfectly and I am always stingy with it.  I think I got into that habit a few years back when salt was considered such an evil thing.  I guess I figured that people could salt their own plates after they were served.  My husband always salted his food without even tasting it, which might be reason number two why I use salt so sparingly.

This Pionono recipe comes straight from Argentina. I have been making this cake since I was a pre-teen.  Mom and I made it for both sweet and savory rolls. At some time when I was young, Mom just lost her touch with Pionono, at least that’s what she told me.  It just wouldn’t turn out for her and, so then, it became my job.  We made this often with a salmon salad or dulce de leche as a filling but I love Fruit Basket Cakes and thought it might be nice to make a filling for this roll with fruit and whipped cream.  I think it’s delish.

I call the batter my 4 + 4 + 4 dough.  So easy to remember, 4 eggs, 4 Tbls. flour, 4 Tbls. sugar and 1 tsp. Vanilla.  That’s it!  It’s a dream.

Ingredients

4 Eggs

4 Tbls. Unbleached Flour

4 Tbls. Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

 

Filling-Double this recipe if you would like to frost the outside of the cake.

4 oz. Mascarpone Cheese

1/2 cup Sugar (If you are doubling the recipe, use 2/3 cup of Sugar.)

1 cup Heavy Cream

1 tsp. Vanilla (Keep it at 1 tsp. of Vanilla if you are doubling the recipe.)

1 lb. Strawberries

8 oz. Blueberries

Or whatever fruit you would like

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 14 x 11 pan with greased parchment paper.  (I use the bottom of my broiler pan.  What can I say?  It’s tradition.)  The trick to working with parchment paper is to lightly grease the pan so the paper will stay in place.  Then, generously grease the top.

Beat the 4 Eggs and Sugar with your whisk attachment of your standup mixer.  Beat until the Eggs are frothy like a zabaglione, about 5 minutes.  You should only see froth and no liquid in the bowl.

Gently fold in 1 Tbl. of sifted Flour at a time.  Make sure there are no lumps.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 7 minutes.

While the cake is baking, grab a tea towel, dampen it and spread a thin layer of sugar on it.

Take the cake out and place it upside down on the towel.  Gently peal the parchment paper.

 

While the cake is cooling slightly, gently stir 1/4 cup of Sugar into the Mascarpone in a medium bowl. In another bowl. whip the Cream on medium until soft peaks.  Increase speed to medium-high and slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup Sugar until it reaches stiff peaks.  Fold the Cream into the Mascarpone a bit at a time.

Prepare Strawberries and Blueberries.

Spread the Whipped Cream on the cake.

Place Berries on top.

Use the towel to roll.

Place on a plate.  Trim the sides and frost.  Then frost the top or decorate.

Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.  Sprinkle with some powdered sugar.

You are done in less than 45 minutes.  I listened to Andrea Bocelli’s CD “Romanza”.  I used a few of these songs in class when I taught Spanish.  It has some Spanish and some Italian songs that I lo

Serving size can vary.  I chose to use 8 servings per roll.  Each serving of the Pionono has 74 Calories, 2.3 grams Fat, 8.9 grams Carbs, 3.4 grams Protein.  The filling has 243 Calories, 17.4 grams Fat, 21.4 grams Carbs, 4.4 grams Protein.