Encharcada – Portuguese egg-yolk dessert in lemon syrup

Weigh out 200 g additional egg yolks and, separately, 100 g whole eggs without shells. Combine them in a bowl and stir gently with a fork, without whisking into a foam. Use a vegetable peeler to remove 1–2 wide strips of just the yellow peel from a thoroughly washed lemon and weigh out 4 g. Have a small strainer, a spatula and a shallow ovenproof dish about 22–24 cm across ready.

Put all the sugar in a wide frying pan or saucepan about 24–26 cm across, pour in all 200 g water and add the lemon peel. Heat, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Then simmer gently, without stirring, until the syrup is noticeably thicker and glossy, usually about 10–15 minutes. It should run from a spoon held above the pan in a thicker stream ending in a heavy, slow-falling drop. Do not touch the hot syrup. Remove all the strips of peel before adding the eggs. Meanwhile, preheat the oven's top broiler to about 220°C.

Reduce the heat so that the syrup simmers gently. Hold the strainer above the pan and slowly pour the mixture of yolks and whole eggs through it, moving the strainer in circles over the surface. Pour gradually so the eggs begin to set in thin strands and soft pieces rather than forming one thick layer. Use all the egg mixture.

Cook over low heat for about 6–10 minutes, carefully lifting and turning the eggs with a spatula from the edges toward the center. Do not whisk them and do not mash them into a smooth custard. They should form soft, irregular strands and pieces, with no liquid raw egg mixture and with visible syrup between them. Stop cooking before the mixture begins to dry out or stick to the bottom.

Transfer all the cooked eggs to the prepared ovenproof dish and add all the syrup left in the pan. Spread loosely in an even, fairly thin layer, without pressing down the delicate pieces. There is no need to grease the dish.

Put the dish under the preheated broiler, leaving a gap below the upper heating element. Brown for about 3–5 minutes, watching throughout, until light golden patches appear on the surface. The middle should stay moist, with syrup visible around the edges. Remove the dish before the top becomes very dark or the dessert dries out.

Sprinkle the surface with all the ground cinnamon. Leave the dish on a heatproof trivet for about 30 minutes to cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Divide the chilled dessert into six portions, spooning up the soft pieces of egg and syrup together. Serve without additional ingredients. Keep any remaining encharcada covered in the refrigerator and eat within 2 days.