AI-generated image
Bica de Trives
Buttery cream cake
Bica de Trives: Ourense's buttery cream cake with a crackly sugar top
Pobra de Trives, a mountain town in Ourense, holds a festival every August in honour of its bica, a rich, close-textured cake made with fresh cream and butter from local dairies. It is baked in a rectangular tin, sold in paper and eaten in thick slices with coffee or a glass of milk. The sugar scattered on top bakes into a thin, crackly crust. A common mistake is overmixing once the flour goes in, which makes it tough; fold just until no streaks remain. Chef's tip: whip the egg whites separately and fold them in last for a lighter crumb.
- Total time
- 65 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
- 4 eggsseparated
- 7 oz caster sugar
- 3 ½ oz buttermelted and cooled, plus a little for the tin
- ¾ cup double cream
- 8 oz plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tbsp sugarfor the top
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (3)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 24 × 12 cm loaf tin and line it with baking paper.
5 minStep 2: Beat the egg yolks from the 4 eggs with 7 oz caster sugar until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Beat in 3 ½ oz butter and ¾ cup double cream.
5 minStep 3: Sift 8 oz plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1 pinch salt over the mixture and fold in gently.
3 minStep 4: Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl to firm peaks that stand up straight. Fold them into the batter in two goes, keeping it airy.
5 minStep 6: Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then lift out on its paper and cool on a rack. It slices best the next day.
10 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 40 g
- Fat
- 17 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bica de Trives take?
- About 65 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of eggs?
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water per egg, left for 5 minutes (baking only; vegan).
- What can I use instead of caster sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Arroz con pitu de caleyaSoupy rice with chicken
A pitu de caleya is a cockerel raised free in the lanes, or caleyas, of rural Asturias; its firm, flavourful meat needs long stewing, and families around Villaviciosa and Grado still cook it for feast days. The stew is often finished as a soupy rice, so the deep chicken juices go into every grain. Use the best free-range chicken you can find. The braise includes dry white wine; replace it with extra stock and a squeeze of lemon if you want it alcohol-free. Chef's tip: brown the chicken slowly and deeply; that colour is where the flavour of the whole pot comes from.
All i pebreEel and potato paprika stew
In El Palmar and the other villages around the Albufera lagoon south of Valencia, the restaurants that are famous for paella serve something older first: all i pebre, "garlic and pepper", a brick-red stew of lagoon eel and potatoes thickened with a pounded almond and fried-bread picada. It is rich, garlicky and gently hot, eaten with bread to mop up the sauce. Ask your fishmonger to skin and cut the eel, and handle it with gloves: raw eel blood is irritating, though harmless once cooked. If you can't find eel, monkfish or hake works well. A common mistake is letting the paprika burn; it turns bitter in seconds, so add it off the heat. Chef's tip: break the potatoes with a knife instead of cutting cleanly; the rough edges release starch and thicken the sauce.
Escudella i carn d'ollaChristmas soup with giant pasta
This contains pork (pork belly and pork mince). On Christmas Day, Catalan families sit down to escudella i carn d'olla, served in two courses: first the broth with giant snail-shaped galets pasta, then the carn d'olla, a platter of the meats, chickpeas and vegetables that made it, including the pilota, a large herby meatball. The pot simmers for hours, and the leftovers become the next day's canelons. Chef's tip: start the meats in cold water and skim patiently as it comes to the boil; it is the only way to a clear, golden broth.