Guardanapos - Napkins

Portuguese desserts are to die for and one of my favorites is called a "Guardanapo" which translates to Napkin because of the way it is folded.

I fondly remember sitting at the "Pastelarias" in Portugal, their little bakeries and coffee shops, and eating these little cakes.

I have wanted to make them for a long time and decided to give it a go this morning, I'm not thrilled with the way they turned out, I will say that the taste is spot on, but the dough for the cake itself was not right, so in the future I'm going to just use my own Jelly Roll recipe for the cake part.

Nevertheless, if you want to give them a go, here it is:

Jelly Roll

* 3 large Eggs
* 3⁄4 c Sugar
* 5 T Water 1 tsp. vanilla Extract
* 1 c All-purpose flour
* 1 t baking powder
* 1⁄4 t Salt

Egg Custard for filling:

8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 cup water


For the custard:

In a small saucepan, add the sugar and water and cook until dissolved and starts to bubble. Beat the egg yolks with a fork to break them up.

Add a little bit of the sugary syrup to the egg yolks and stir vigorously so it doesn't cook.

Now add the egg yolk mixture to the pan, continually stirring until it thickens...you don't want it to clump up or curdle. Once it thickens, remove from heat and allow to cool down.

For the cake:
Heat oven to 375. Grease and flour a 15-½ x 10-½ inch jelly roll pan, or spray with cooking spray. (I use wax paper sprayed with non stick cooking spray)
Beat eggs until thick; add sugar, gradually, continuing to beat.

Add water and vanilla; mix. Sift flour, baking powder and salt.
Add all at once and beat until smooth. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake about 12-15 minutes or until cake tests done.
Do not overbake, it will be difficult to remove from pan and roll. Turn out on towel well-sprinkled with confectioners" sugar.

Remove wax paper and quickly, trim edges with a sharp knife, and roll up in towel.
Cool, unroll and spread evenly with jam or custard or whipped topping or whatever you wish.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and slice and serve.


For the Napkins:

Prepare as above, but after you trim the edges, cut the cake into equal sized squares.

Add about a tablespoon or so of the egg custard and spread evenly.

Fold the square in half like a napkin.