The bollo de Sant Blai is Benidorm's own festival sweet, a round almond and cornmeal biscuit flavoured with cinnamon and lemon, baked for Saint Blaise on 3 February.
The story of Bollo de Sant Blai
Saint Blaise, Sant Blai, falls on 3 February, and in Benidorm households and bakeries make the bollo in the days before it. The recipe has been handed down for decades: ground almonds with their skins, eggs, cornmeal rather than wheat flour, lemon zest and cinnamon, baked flat and marked with a fork. The town's Comissió de Festes Patronals sells batches of them to raise money for the November fiestas.
How to make Bollo de Sant Blai
Serves: Makes about 20 bollos
Ingredients
- 1kg skin-on almonds, ground
- 12 eggs, separated
- 800g fine cornmeal
- Grated zest of 2 lemons
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- Sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- Olive oil, as needed
Method
- Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.
- Fold in the yolks, the sugar, the cinnamon and the lemon zest gently, so the mixture stays light.
- Fold in the ground almonds and cornmeal, then work in olive oil little by little until the dough holds together.
- Shape into flat rounds on an oiled, paper-lined tray and mark the tops with a fork.
- Dust with cinnamon and sugar and bake at 180C for about 30 minutes, until golden and crisp.
Editor tip. Use cornmeal, not wheat flour: it gives the bollo its crumbly bite and keeps it gluten-free.
The editor picks for Bollo de Sant Blai in Benidorm are still in research. Meanwhile, see the Benidorm signature-dishes index or the Benidorm food guide.