If you are one of those people who always leave room for dessert, you should know that Ibiza has plenty of puddings to choose from such as greixonera, salsa de Nadal or Sant Joan macarons, all of them homemade with local produce. One of the most iconic among all these sweet things is the flaó, a cheesecake with a difference, with just a few ingredients but a special and delicious taste.
How do you make flaó?
This traditional dessert which dates back to the Middle Ages is made with pastry flour, anise, three eggs, lemon zest, baking powder and a little bit of lard. In addition, some water is boiled in a saucepan together with cinnamon, star anise and orange and lemon skin, it is then strained and added to the flour mixture as needed.
Everything is mixed together until it forms a soft dough which is rolled out thinly. A cake mould is greased with a little lard and the pastry is laid carefully in the tin, making sure that it is solid so that the filling will not leak underneath the pastry, and the surface is pricked with a fork.
The filling is then added, consisting of soft goat’s cheese, a little semi-cured sheep’s cheese which is either mashed by hand or grated, but never using an electric whisk, and this is then mixed with eggs, sugar and chopped fresh mint. After blending the mixture by hand, it is placed in the cake tin and decorated with some mint leaves, then baked at 180ºC for about an hour. When the cake is done, it is sprinkled with sugar.
This dessert is an authentic jewel of traditional cuisine, with the classic taste of cheesecake but with a different touch thanks to the mint flavouring. Many restaurants on the island serve Ibizan cuisine and there of course you can find flaó on the dessert menu. You can also find this sweet treat in all the cake shops and bakeries of the island which makes it the perfect souvenir to gift to family and friends.