Where it comes from
Vera
Vera's tarta borracha lives up to its name: a sponge built in three layers and soaked in rum syrup, filled with cabello de ángel cream and coated in chocolate. It is a recipe for expert hands, and the ones that perfected it belong to Antonio Carmona, of the Terraza Carmona restaurant.
The inheritance comes from far back: "In Vera we had the Padres Mínimos for many years and although they left more than a hundred years ago they left us a legacy". The friars occupied the Convento de la Victoria and abandoned it with the Mendizábal disentailment of 1835; the recipe survived in the town and is today one of Vera's specialities.
An honest note for the traveller: this is not a convent sweet sold at the turnstile, but a recipe of convent origin revived by a restaurant. The wise — and greedy — move is to ask for it before you go.
What it is made with
- Sponge cake
- Syrup
- Rum
- Cabello de ángel cream
- Chocolate
- Cinnamon
- Lemon
- Orange
How it is made at home
- Bake a sponge and cut it into three layers.
- Make a syrup and flavour it with rum.
- Soak each layer with the syrup.
- Fill between the layers with cabello de ángel cream.
- Cover the cake with chocolate.
- Terraza Carmona (Vera)