If you’re on holiday in Ibiza, you can’t miss out on trying flaó, a typical dessert from the island: a special, tasty and exquisite cheesecake. Traditionally, it was only made on Easter Sunday, but nowadays you can find this dessert in any restaurant or bakery all year round.
If you want to know how to prepare the authentic Ibizan flaó, and some more details about this gastronomic delight, read on!
The flaó: everything you need to know
The origins of flaó go back to the Middle Ages, the Ibizan peasants being entirely responsible for preserving the recipe in its entirety, from ancient times to the present day.
Flaó is a cheesecake. But not just any cheesecake, as the most outstanding feature of it is its marked hint of mint. The base is made with flour, aniseed and lard, and the filling is made with eggs, sugar, fresh goat’s or sheep’s cheese and, always, a touch of mint.
This cheesecake, along with greixonera, is one of Ibiza’s best-known typical desserts. In the past, it used to be made on Easter Sunday, as this was the time when the production of fresh cheese, the star ingredient of the cake, increased.
Nowadays, this has changed and, although it is still eaten at Easter, it is also common to find flaó in any shop, supermarket or bakery on Ibiza all year round. It is even quite common for many people to take it home as a souvenir.
Recipe: How to prepare flaó
There are many different recipes and many different ways of preparing flaó, but none of them are particularly complicated. In fact, it is a fairly simple and easy dessert to make. Here is a recipe, in case you want to surprise your loved ones with this unique dessert.
Ingredients for 6 people
For the dough, you will need:
- 225 grams of pastry flour
- Zest of half a lemon
- 30 grams of sugar
- 1 egg
- A pinch of salt
- A dash of sweet aniseed
- A handful of aniseed
- 5 millilitres of olive oil
- 25 grams of lard
For the filling, you will need
- 4 eggs
- 250 grams of sugar
- 150 grams of grated sheep’s cheese
- 350 grams of unsalted Burgos cheese
- 2 tablespoons of crushed mint
How to make the flaó step by step
The first thing to do is to prepare the dough. To do this, mix all the ingredients together, except the flour, which you will add to the mixture little by little. Stir until a well-integrated dough is obtained.
Grease a mould with a little butter and fill it with the dough we have prepared. Then bake in the oven until the dough takes on a certain consistency, which will allow us to add the filling.
To make the filling, which has a creamy texture, all you have to do is beat the eggs and add the sugar, cheese and, lastly, the mint. Just be careful to mix it with a spatula, so that the mixture does not take on a greenish hue.
Once you have filled the base with the cream, you must bake it again for approximately 45 minutes, or until it is golden brown. Then let it cool, sprinkle with icing sugar and… voilà! Your flaó is ready to be served.
The result is none other than an exquisite cake, with a characteristic cheese and mint flavour, typical of Ibiza. And… do you want to know a secret? Some say that it is worth waiting a day or two before eating the flaó, since this way all the cheese and mint aromas are fully released. And now, the best thing you can do is to enjoy this irresistible pleasure for your palate. Bon appetit!
