Huevo Chimbo – A Latin American Staple

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Huevo chimbo, huevo quimbo, tajadon, tajadon de Trujillo, huevos reales… there are many names for this traditional dessert from the XVI century. We inherited this recipe from Spanish nuns, who were experts in the preparation of many sweets. These talented ladies found in this dessert a delicious way to make good use of leftover egg yolks that ended up in the kitchen after making meringues and many other puddings with the whites. Egg whites were also put to good use, and there are even stories that claim that they were used to make cement to build churches.

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The original recipe for huevo chimbo came from Spain, and these nuns spread it all over Latin America; that is why it’s known from Mexico to Chile, with similar names, and only slight variations in the preparation. In Nicaragua, however, huevos chimbos is a completely different thing, but I believe this is the only exception.

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If you’re still looking for a dessert to make for Christmas, this may be a good choice as it is gluten free, making it celiac-friendly, and it should be served cold, which means you can have it ready in the fridge and take it out before serving time.

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Note: In Peru, the syrup has a high Pisco content, but you can use 1 or 2 tablespoons of the liquor, instead of 1/2 cup, or leave it out of the recipe if you are going to serve it to kids.

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Huevo Chimbo
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 10
 
Ingredients
  • 20 egg yolks
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 6 cloves
  • ½ cup Pisco
  • ½ cup raisins
Instructions
  1. Grease a rectangular baking pan.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
  3. Beat the egg yolks until very thick and pale, (when the beater is lifted the yolks should form a ribbon - this should take about 15 minutes).
  4. Pour into the prepared mold and bake for 20 minutes (pierce it with a toothpick - it should come out dry).
  5. In the meantime combine sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a saucepan. Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes or until syrupy. Turn off the heat and add Pisco and raisins.
  6. Cut squares on all the surface of the cake with the tip of a knife. Put several raisins on top of the cake.
  7. Pour the syrup over the cake and let it cool completely.
  8. Serve cold.

 


Comments

  1. Tengo unas ganas de hacerlo! gracias por el paso a paso.

    • Imaginate, Pilar, es facilísimo de hacer, puedes recortar la receta y hacer un tercio o la mitad -para no usar tantas yemas-, y el resultado es una esponja delicadísima y embebida en el syrup perfumado con Pisco. Es super deliciosa!

  2. En mi casa, desde que yo era chica (y tengo 64 ahora!) mi mama siempre hacia esta receta y la llamabamos Huevos Reales. Yo tambien la hago, pero siempre pense que era una receta cubana. Me case con chileno y en Chile le llaman Huevos Chimbo, pero creo alli le agregan algo mas a las yemas batidas. La de mi mama era solo yemas batidas. Y un almibar bien dulce (acuerdense que el azucar era el primer producto de Cuba asi que usaban bastante!) Eso si nada de pasas, y nada de Pisco. A veces le ponia un chorrito de Oporto al almibar. Uno de mis postres favoritos al igual que el Tocino de Cielo.

    • Hola LululzzyCro! Gracias por tu interesante comentario. Este postre se ha hecho casi en toda América Latina. En México también le llaman Huevos Reales, si no me equivoco. Y ha sido uno de los postres coloniales más queridos en Perú, aunque claro, nuestra versión lleva Pisco, y se hace con puras yemas. Es una delicia.

  3. curso de reposteria madrid says:

    He leido vuestro articulo con mucha atecion y me ha parecido interesente ademas de claro en su contenido. No dejeis de cuidar esta web es bueno.
    Saludos

    curso de reposteria madrid http://www.tempuracocina.es/cursos-de-reposteria-madrid

  4. what size pan did you use?

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