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Pionono or rolled cake is very famous in Argentina . It is used both in sweet and savory dishes. Basically it's a thin soft airy plain cake that is made with using only flour, eggs, sugar and honey. You can fill it with anything you like and then roll it. Some people leave the rolled pionono for an hour or so in the fridge before slicing and serving. Some simply serve it straight away.
Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no extra cost to you, I will get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Everything I mention in this post is what I personally use and recommend.
Learning To Make Pionono
I learnt to make pionono from my mother in law, who is Argentine and an amazing cook. Like any other great home cooks, she doesn't measure! So it must have been annoying for her when I kept asking and measuring everything that she used. Haha!
So after a few tries of making pionono on my own, I can safely say that my pionono has a huge approval stamp from her.
Tips
- Making pionono is actually easy. You can watch the video below to see how to make it. What you need to do is whisk the sugar, eggs and honey until it reaches the ribbon stage. Having a trusty standing mixer really helps in this process as it takes quite a while.
- Also make sure your eggs are at room temperature. They whisk better.
- Honey is used in this recipe as it gives the flexibility to the pionono. That's important when we roll it so that it doesn't break apart.
- So after the batter has reached ribbon stage, you will need to add in the flour. Add bit by bit and very carefully fold it in to incorporate with the batter. This is because you don't want to deflate and loose all the air in the batter. Take your time and do it slowly.
Well that's it! Then simply pour it on a baking tray with baking sheet, bake it, let it cool down completely and use it as you desire.
Here's a recipe of tuna pionono that I made using this pionono recipe. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
📖 Recipe
Argentine Pionono (Roll Cake)
Video
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs , room temperature
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar (25 g)
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ cup all purpose flour (65 g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Line and butter a rectangle baking tray of 15x10.5 inch (39x27 cm). Set aside.
- In a stand mixer bowl, add in eggs, sugar and honey. Using the wire whip attachment, mix to incorporate slowly and then switch to high speed and whisk for 10 minutes until ribbon stage.
- Add in sifted flour and salt into the mixture in 3 additions. Gently fold in to combine after each addition. Pour batter into prepared baking tray and gently spread evenly.
- Bake using middle rack at 360ºF (180ºC) in a preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and the sides detach from the baking sheet, indicating that it's cooked. Remove from the oven and leave it cool completely in the tray. Once completely cooled, remove the baking sheet. Now the pionono is ready to be used. Enjoy!
Jorge says
Fantastic recipe! It turned out just like the one my mom used to make every Christmas. Thanks so much!
Bea & Marco says
Oh yay! We're thrilled to hear that. Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Jorge!
Ljubica Cappelletti says
Super easy to make, and delicious 😋 😍
Bea & Marco says
Yay!! Thank you!
Maria-Virginia says
Hi. I would like clarification in regard to the following:
The recipes says "Remove from the oven and leave it cool completely in the tray. Once completely cooled, remove the baking sheet". The recipes I've seen for roll cakes normally request to take it off the oven, remove immediately the parchment paper while it is warm and use a tea towel to roll it. Then let it cool while rolled up, however you do not advise rolling while hot. Is this correct? Is your advise to wait until it's completely cool to fill up and then roll?
Thank you!!!
Bea & Marco says
Hi! I'm sorry for the late reply. Yes, for this recipe, wait until it's completely cool before filling and rolling it. That's how I learnt it from my Argentine mother-in law who's been making pionono since forever. Hope it helps!
Maria-Virginia Gonzalez says
Hi. I have made it four times since we last spoke. 😀
I rolled it while cool and others I rolled it while hot. For me the hot method worked better than the cold one. As soon as is out of the oven, I pass a knife all around, put a lot of powder sugar, tea towel, flip it over, remove the parchment paper, powder sugar again and roll with the tea towel. Once roll I leave it out of the refrigerator until it cools and then I wrap it on plastic film.
This is the only "thing" I did different in your recipe. The rest is amazing.. Very happy and grateful you posted...
Bea & Marco says
Hi Maria Virginia! Yes, your way sounds perfectly fine. This is a post we need to update to clarify the method of rolling for later use and if you were using it right after baking. So happy to read you like the recipe and thank you so much for your review! 🙂
keith says
how much servings is this it dose not say
Bea & Marco says
The servings will depend on what you fill it and top it with. But more or less 15 slices.
Claudia says
Thank you so much for sharing such an easy and great recipe!!! How long can I keep it in the fridge? ( no filling). Te pasaste Petronilo, la Argentina te queda chica!
Bea & Marco says
Jajaja Gracias! Tampoco es para tanto. About the pionono, I would suggest you keep it for not more than 1 day, and outside the fridge would be better. If inside the fridge, it will tend to stick and would probably be difficult to unroll without breaking. Hope this helps.
Lynda M says
Thank you for the Pionono recipe, my daughter want to make some special for our new Daughter/Sister in law. She tried another recipe that beat the egg whites separately. She tried it 2 times and it failed. We tried your recipe, it turned beautifully. Thank you again
Bea says
That's great, Lynda! I'm happy that finally you found a recipe that works. Thanks for your feedback!
Dolores says
I love that you use honey for the flexibility! I'm Argentine myself and I'm making this for my daughter's birthday 🙂 Awesome recipe!
Bea says
Awesome! We're always happy to hear from another fellow Argentine! Hopefully your daughter likes it, thank you Dolores!
Betty says
Hi Bea. I have made your pionono many times and I love it. Fast and easy recipe!! My grandkids are addicted...
(I fill it with dulce de leche for them)
In the past I made it 'a ojo' because I'm also from Argentina like your mom in law.
Never before had I used honey and it really makes all the difference as far as malleability.
Thank you for the tip!!!
Bea says
Hola Betty! I'm sure my mother in law would be very happy to know about your comment, thank you! I'm glad that your grandkids love it and oh with dulce de leche.. it can never go wrong. Thanks again and have a lovely day ahead!
Nina Piaf says
I tried your recipe for the first time, and it was delicious.
Thank you!!
Bea says
I'm glad you liked it, thank you Nina!
Mariana says
Hi!!! Great and easy recipe,,, it’s my new classic.....
Send your mom in law a huge kiss from this Argentinian mom living in miami!!!!
Bea says
Thank you Mariana! Oh she's going to be excited to hear this! She went to Miami in 1981 and keeps telling us about it. She still remembers how great it was!
Hadyn says
I just made it. The recipe was very easy to follow, and when I served it there was NONE left! So delicious!
Bea says
That's awesome! My mother-in-law would be happy to hear this as I learnt it from her :D. Thank you Hadyn!
Emmy says
Thank You, I am Argentinian and I was trying to find an authentic pionono recipe to give to my daughter-in-law. I do it like your mother in law, no measures and she wanted to measure everything, Lol.
Of course, I followed your recipe, and I have to recognize it is better than mine pionono,
Congratulations!
Bea says
Hahaha! I'm like that too when I'm learning Argentine recipes from my mother-in-law, always measuring and writing things down. I'm happy that you gave this recipe a try and liked it. Thank you so much Emmy, un beso grande! XO