Bica

It is said that this dessert was created at one of the many monasteries in Galicia (possibly around the Santiago de Compostela area) and is already recorded to have been made for festivities back on the XIX (and quite likely, beyond).

Maybe you have never heard of a Galician Bica but I can tell you this dessert is one to remember. It is creamy, fluffy, airy and ever so tasty. Breakfast is the best time to have it… and lunch… and at tea time… or dinner… Well, you know what I mean…

My mum never made this herself but she did buy it directly from the baker’s opposite our chalet. She’d get this when we had visitors and when we hadn’t. It really brings memories of the summer time, eating al fresco and having a Bica for dessert and then for breakfast the next day (the Bicas my mum bought were very big, typical Galician size).

She usually had it with a shot of coffee liquor that she used to make. When I reached drinking age, I enjoyed having this with her. I have to say her liquors were outstanding and the memory of having this with a piece of bica, outside, sun shinning on our faces while talking trivialities of life and the random sounds of our surroundings, is one I treasure for life.

So please, enjoy this recipe that comes all the way from my kitchen to you.

You can find the step by step video to this recipe here:

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 50 mins approx
Difficulty: Easy
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Credit: The Spaniard’s Kitchen

Ingredients

400grs Plain Flour, sifted
4 Eggs
200grs Butter, soft
200grs Granulated Sugar
200ml Cream
1 tsp Baking Powder
Cinnamon & White Sugar for topping

Directions

Put the sugar into a bowl, add the eggs to it and cream.

Add the soft butter and mix.

Next add the cream and we mix again.

In a separate bowl put the flour and add the baking powder to it, mixing them.

Then, we will start adding flour to the egg mix gradually and mixing by hand (don’t use a mixer as it will make the final result very compact instead of fluffy). Don’t over work it.

Once mixed, transfer to a greased (or line with grease proof paper) rectangular tray. Bang the tray lightly on the counter so the mix spreads evenly all over the tin.

In a small bowl, put the topping sugar and mix with the cinnamon.

Then sprinkle it thickly over the unbaked mix (see video above if unsure). It needs to have a layer of sugar on top to be a good bica.

Stick in the oven at 170 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes approximately (depending on your oven).
Once golden and cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool down.