Portuguese convent desserts are almost all built from the same short list of ingredients (egg yolks, sugar, sometimes almonds), as in encharcada (recipe on the site) and toucinho do céu (recipe on the site), both dense with yolks and almond.
Sericaia is the Alentejo’s answer to that same convent tradition: warm and puffed straight from the oven, served next to a little dish of syrupy Elvas plums, it tastes like a cross between a soufflé and a custard, lighter than most of its convent cousins.
Sericaia is a baked egg custard scented with cinnamon and lemon zest, said to have originated in the convents around Elvas, right on the border with Spain, and it puffs up dramatically in the oven before settling into a soft, faintly wobbly pudding as it cools. It is almost always served with ameixas de Elvas, small greengage plums that have been preserved in sugar syrup in that same town since at least the 1800s, and the tartness of the fruit against the sweet, cinnamon-dusted custard is really the whole point of the dish.
Ameixas de Elvas can be tracked down at Portuguese specialty grocers in the US or ordered online; fresh plums poached in a simple syrup are a good substitute. Serve it the way it is meant to be eaten, still a little warm, in shallow bowls, with the syrup pooling around it.
Sericaía Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups (300ml) whole milk
- 1/3 cup (40g) all-purpose flour
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick, plus ground cinnamon for dusting
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon butter, for greasing the dish
- Ameixas de Elvas or poached greengage plums, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter a 9-inch round or oval baking dish.
- Warm the milk with the cinnamon stick and lemon zest in a small saucepan over low heat until just steaming, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep 10 minutes, then discard the cinnamon stick.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Whisk in the flour and salt until smooth, then gradually whisk in the warm milk.
- Pour the batter into the prepared dish and dust generously with ground cinnamon.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until puffed, golden, and just set in the center with a slight wobble, it will deflate as it cools, and that is normal.
- Serve warm or at room temperature, in shallow bowls, with a few ameixas de Elvas and a spoonful of their syrup alongside.
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