A pillow soft sponge cake filled with a butter and sugar concoction, rolled into like a jellyroll cake. This Filipino style chiffon cake is the perfect companion in the afternoon with a cup of tea or coffee. No oven Pianono may just seem like a simple cake and may just look ordinary but its more than that. Pianono is reminiscent of childhood memories and sweet summer afternoons served with hot drinks or iced sweet teas. All it takes is a few minutes of your time to make this delightfully sweet and easy dessert!
No oven Pianono
A fluffy buttery rolled treat
Ingredients
¼ cup all purpose flour
½ tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 tablespoon warm milk
½ tablespoon vanilla
¼ cup white sugar (extra for dusting)
¼ – 1/3 cup unsalted butter
Directions
- In a bowl, sift together all purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix well. Add the egg yolks and mix well, add milk and vanilla and mix well.
- In another bowl whip 3 egg whites, whisking till it gets foamy, gradually add sugar while mixing. Whip till you get stiff peaks. Add the whipped whites to the batter in 3 parts and fold well. Set aside.
- Place in a pan lined with parchment. Spread this evenly. Bake this in a preheated oven for 180°C or 350°F for 15 to 18 minutes. Or prepare a pan at medium heat and cover for 7 to 10 minutes, place a rack and the pianono and cover for 15 to 17 minutes.
- To check if the cake is ready, poke the middle of the cake with a toothpick. This should come out clean. Take this out off the heat. While this is still hot, scrape the sides sprinkle the top generously with sugar, place a parchment paper and board over, and flip.
- Remove the parchment on the cake, spread the butter and sprinkle generously with sugar and carefully roll the cake into a log while tugging the parchment out.
- Slice to pieces and serve.
Recipe Video
Notes
- For a smoother batter, make sure to use room temperature ingredients.
What is a Pianono and how to make the No oven Pianono?
Pianono is a patry found in South America, Spain and Philippines. Named after Pope Pius IX also known as ‘Pio Nono’ by the people of Italy where he hailed from. The original creator Ceferino Ysla Gonzales a devotee of the Virgin Mary from Sante, Granada of Spain. As the story goes, Ceferino Ysla Gonzales wanted to pay homage by creating mini bite-sized cakes from the Pop’s likeness and named it after him. The Filipino version of this sweet pastry is quite similar to it’s Spanish and South American Counterparts, the Filipino Pianono is a jelly roll made of a chiffon like sponge cake butter roll sprinkled with more granulated sugar or powdered sugar to top. The Filipino Pianono may also be mixed in with different flavors such as mocha, mango, ube, cheese, or buko pandan, and may even be filled with chocolate, strawberry jam, coconut jam, and many more depending on the style of pianono you are looking for.
A short history in the Sponge cake
Sponge cake is considered one of the oldest desserts belonging to the category of ‘foam cakes’ popularly beloved by many because of its short list of ingredients. Foam cakes like chiffon, angel cakes, sponge cakes are often used as base for other desserts like Tres leches, Swiss rolls, jelly rolls, snack cakes, layered cakes, and sometimes even in tiramisu. One of the earliest records of this delicious dessert was in the Renaissance age. Italian made this baked product that started as ‘biscuits’, which spread around England, Italy, and France. It was in the 1615 when the first written recipe of the sponge cake was recorded by Gervase Markham, an Engllish poet and author. During this time the ‘cake’ was still flat and similar looking to a cookie. It became well recognized when eggs were beaten and used as a leavening agent in the 18thcentury. The whipped batter was poured into molds or two tin hoops which became the start of modern cake pans.
Sponge cake is so popular that August 23 is considered National sponge cake day. The modern sponge cake is a mix of eggs, sugar, and flour, with no fat or leavening, with the egg separated from the whites and the yolks. The whites are then whipped into a meringue and used as a leavening to help this rise. For the French sponge cake ‘génoise’is a thinner sponge cake where the egg yolks and egg whites are beaten together. The Génoise sponge cake is the closest to the original flat sponge cake these originated on the port of Genoa city, decorated lavishly with candied fruits and peels, vanilla, cinnamon, spices, raisins, currants, creams like chestnut or mouse to be arrange into delicate looking cakes. While the British sponge cake is wildly known as the ever popular ‘victoria sponge cake’. This is called Victoria sponge cake from Queen Victoria who was fond of cakes filled with raspberry jam and layred with whipped cream or vanilla cream.
Sponge cakes are usually baked into a flat pan or sheet pan that are filled with a variety of fillings. Some sponge cakes are also made as a base to make ladyfingers or madeleine’s, some even turn the cake into a biscuit to make shortcakes. Try out this simple and easy No oven Pianono recipe and enjoy your afternoons with light dessert!
No Oven Pianono recipe (tagalog):
Sahog
- ¼ tasa all purpose flour
- ½ kutsarang cornstarch
- 1 kutsaritang baking powder
- ¼ kutsaritang baking soda
- 3 itlog
- 1 kutsarang gatas na katamtamamng init
- ½ kutsarang vanilla
- ¼ tasa puting asukal (extra pang wisik)
- ¼ – 1/3 tasa mantikilya na walang asin
Paano lutuin
- Sa isang mangkok, salain anf harina, cornstarch, baking powder, at baking soda. Haluin ng mabuti, lagyan ng dilaw ng itlog at haluin ng mabuti, ilagay ang gatas at vanilla at haluin muli. Itabi.
- Sa ibang mangkok batihin ang mga uti ng itlog hangnag mabula, dagdagin ang asukal ng pakontikonti hanbang binabati. Batihin hanggnag makabuo ng stiff peaks. Ilagay ang mga puti sa batter ng 3 parte, tiklupin bawat lagay. Itabi.
- Ilugar ang batter sa pan na may parchment. Pantayin ang pagkalat, iluto ito sa oben ng 180°C o 350°F ng 15 o 18 na minuto. O ilagay sa malaking kawali na may katamtamang init, takpan ito ng 7 o 10 na minuto, lagyan ng rack at ang pan sa loob at takpan ng 7 o 10 na minuto.
- Para malaman kung handa n gang keyk, sundutin ang gitna ng keyk gamit ang toothpick, pag malinis ang labas nito luto na ito. Tangalin ito sa init, habang mainit pa wisikan ito ng asukal, ilugar ang parchment paper at board sa itaas at ibaliktad.
- Tangalin ang parchment paper na nakadikit sa keyk, ikalat anf mantikilya at wisikin muli ng asukal at irolyo habang tinatangal ang parchment palabas.
- Hatiin at ihanda.
