Este post también está disponible en Spanish
Well, well, the sweet treat I bring you today is outstanding. Classic and traditional, yes, but wonderful as well. I’m sure many of you know them very well and have eaten them countless times. Especially if you live in the South of Spain. We already know that there is always time to enjoy the good things and that is why today I am going to teach you How to do Piononos from Sante Fé, Granada. That way you can do them at home whenever you want and feel like it. What do you think?
I don’t know why, but I’ve been in an old fashioned way lately. The fact is that I’ve been trapped for a while between cakes/tarts and classic and traditional recipes. But now, I’m also starting to move to the classic sweets, the kind that will always remind us of the pastry shop windows of our childhood.
Piononos de Santa Fé origin.
First of all to say that the recipe of thepiononos de Santa Fé, like that of many other recognized and traditional recipes, is secret. So why have you named them that way if it’s not the original recipe? The reason is that you can locate it and know exactly which one I am referring to.
If we are looking for “pionono” recipes, but without specifying it, the normal thing is that we get recipes of rolled sponge cakes with filling. What we commonly know as the “brazo de gitano“(gypsy arm, in Spanish). That’s why I decided to give it this name, to locate the specific recipe. But everyone knows that this recipe (despite being very good) is NOT the original one made in Granada. As I mentioned a few lines ago, it is a recipe that only knows how to make it in their bakery.
Apparently the piononos, one of the most typical sweets of Granada par excellence, were created by Ceferino Isla. Master pastry chef and owner of the Casa Ysla bakery since 1897, in Santa Fé.
It is said that Ceferino was very devoted to the Virgin and wanted to pay tribute to Pope Pius IX (Pio Nono in Italian) who in 1854 had proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. He was the last Pope King, under whose pontificate the Pontifical States became part of the new Italy that arose with the reunification, being these states reduced to the minimum expression: the present Vatican City.
In this context, Ceferino conceived the creation of this cake that not only bears the name of the Pope (Pius IX > Pius Nono> pionono ®), but also recalls the papal figure:
- It has a cylindrical and somewhat chubby appearance: it is a syrupy sponge cake rolled up on itself.
- It is served dressed like the Pope, with a white cassock: the cakes are placed on a wafer/capsule of paper where they are served.
- The upper part is a crown of sugary cream and toasted piped on the cake cylinder: this symbolizes the solide with which the Pope covers his crown.
This is one of the oldest sweets treats in Spain and there are indications of the existence of a similar pastry in the Arab era.
Due to the ingredients used in its production, it was not until 1897 when it emerged in the province of Granada. There is a theory that says that the origin of pionono goes back to the time of Hispanic-Muslim Spain, between the 10th and 11th centuries. Its confectionery was characterized by the use of spices, in this case cinnamon, and honey.
According to this popular theory, the inhabitants of Santa Fé kept the recipe for these cakes, the ancestors of the pionono, as part of their Arab heritage. As time passed and the hands that elaborated it, transforming it to different tastes, in the middle of the XIX century three sisters of the pastry shop “La Blanquita”, decide to rescue the recipe.
They gave it the appearance of a papal tiara and baptized it with the name of Pope Pius IX. Years later, they named it pionono, as a tribute to Ceferino, founder of Casa Ysla.
A delight for the senses.
This is a very fine sponge sheet, moistened with syrup, filled with cream and cinnamon, rolled up on itself. In order to finish it, it is crowned with more cream and this one is toasted. As you already suppose, a marvel for our palate.
Without a doubt, it fell in love with everyone who tried it. In fact, Casa Ysla has received many recognitions throughout more than a century of life. King Alfonso XIII was extremely impressed by these cakes, so much so that he gave Casa Ysla the title of official supplier to the Royal House in 1916. Hence the shield of Casa Ysla has the royal crown of five points.
