Sericaia com Ameixas de Elvas

Ingredients

• 500 ml whole milk
• 250 g caster sugar
• 75 g plain flour
• 6 eggs
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• Zest of 1 lemon, in wide strips
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 300 g greengage or Victoria plums
• 150 g sugar, for the plums
• 200 ml water, for the plums
• 1 strip lemon peel, for the plums

Before you cook

• Separate the eggs into two bowls, keeping the whites completely free of yolk.
• Pare the lemon zest into wide strips with a peeler.
• Whisk the flour and the 250 g of sugar together in a saucepan so there are no lumps.
• Halve the plums and remove the stones.

Steps

1. Put the plums, the 150 g of sugar, the water and the strip of lemon peel into a small pan.
2. Bring it to a simmer and cook gently for twenty minutes, until the plums are soft and the syrup has thickened.
3. Take the plums off the heat and leave them to cool in their own syrup.
4. Pour the milk into the pan of flour and sugar, whisking as you go.
5. Add the cinnamon sticks, the lemon zest strips and the pinch of salt.
6. Heat the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it comes to a boil.
7. Let it bubble and thicken for four to five minutes, still whisking, until it has the consistency of thick custard.
8. Take the pan off the heat and fish out the cinnamon sticks and lemon zest.
9. Leave the custard to cool to room temperature, stirring now and then so no skin forms.
10. Beat the egg yolks into the cooled custard until it is smooth and glossy.
11. Whisk the egg whites with a clean whisk until they hold firm peaks.
12. Fold a third of the whites into the custard to loosen it.
13. Fold in the remaining whites in two more additions, cutting through gently so you keep the air.
14. Heat the oven to 200C with a wide shallow earthenware or ceramic dish sitting inside it.
15. Take the hot dish out and pour in the batter, stopping about 1 cm below the rim.
16. Dust the whole surface heavily with the ground cinnamon, sifting it through a small sieve.
17. Turn the oven down to 180C and bake the sericaia for twenty to twenty-five minutes.
18. Test it with a skewer pushed into the deepest fold; it should come out clean.
19. Let it cool to room temperature, where it will sink into cracked, uneven folds.
20. Serve it in spoonfuls with the plums and a little of their syrup.