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🍰 DESSERT

Sopa Borracha

Sponge cake drenched in a spiced rum-and-prune syrup, Panama's boozy celebration dessert, despite the 'soup' in its name.
Panamanian · medium · serves 8
prep 25 min · cook 30 min · plus 6 h hands-off time
~486 cal · 6g protein · 97g carbs · 3g fat · 2g fiber · 77g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Squares of sponge cake in spiced rum syrup with prunes
AI-generated illustration
Sopa borracha, drunken soup, is a classic Panamanian celebration dessert, served above all at weddings and christenings. Despite the name, it is not a soup at all but pieces of sponge cake swimming in a generous, spiced syrup.
The syrup is where the name earns itself: a sugar syrup steeped with cinnamon and cloves and then spiked heavily with rum, and traditionally the local aguardiente. Prunes and raisins are simmered in it until plump, and the whole thing is poured over squares of light sponge.
Finished with a scatter of coloured sprinkles (grageas) and left to soak, it is served cold in a bowl, spooned up with the fruit and pooled syrup. Sweet, wet, and unmistakably grown-up, it is Panama's idea of a festive finish.
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Make it yours

✓ Naturally vegetarian and dairy-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.

Ingredients

Serves 8
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar for the cake
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar for the syrup
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 whole cloves
  • 3/4 cup dark rum
  • 3/4 cup moscatel wine
  • 1/2 cup sherry
  • 1 lemon, sliced, and its zest
  • 1 cup prunes and raisins
  • 2 tbsp coloured sprinkles, to finish

Instructions

  • 1
    Steep the prunes and raisins in the rum, moscatel and sherry for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
    ✎ Chef’s note
    Marinating the dried fruit in the liquors before the syrup is even made is what turns them plump and boozy right through. Dropped into hot syrup at the end they only take on a surface flavour.
  • 2
    Separate the eggs, whip the whites with the cake sugar to stiff peaks, beat in the yolks one at a time, then fold in the flour with the lemon zest and bake as a sponge at 350F (180C) for about 20 minutes; cool and cut into cubes or diamonds.
    ✎ Chef’s note
    The whipped whites are what make the sponge airy enough to drink up the syrup without collapsing to mush.
  • 3
    Simmer the syrup sugar with the water, cinnamon, cloves and lemon slices until it thickens a little, then strain it and let it cool to just warm.
  • 4
    Stir the steeped fruit and all of its liquor into the cooled syrup.
    ✎ Chef’s note
    The liquor goes in off the heat and once the syrup has cooled, so its aroma survives. Boiled, the alcohol and its perfume cook away. Rum alone is the common shortcut, but the traditional Panamanian mix is rum with moscatel wine and sherry, and that is where the depth comes from.
  • 5
    Arrange the sponge squares in a dish, pour over the warm syrup and fruit, and chill.
  • 6
    Scatter with sprinkles and serve cold, spooning up plenty of syrup.
Panamanian celebration tradition.

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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination

📍
Panama City. Culantro is not coriander. It is a long serrated leaf, stronger and more bitter than the soft herb it gets confused with, and it holds up through a long simmer where coriander would collapse. Name, the yam that goes in, dissolves as it cooks and is what thickens the broth.
🗺️
Panama. The tortilla here is not the Mexican kind. It is thick, made of ground corn, and fried rather than griddled, coming out puffed and crisp at the edges to be eaten at breakfast with cheese. On the Caribbean side, in Bocas del Toro and Colon, the cooking turns Afro-Caribbean, with coconut milk in the rice and in the fish.
🌍
North America. North America's table began with Indigenous foodways, the "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash, plus chiles, tomatoes, and cacao, then layered on colonial, African, and immigrant influences. From Mexico's UNESCO-recognized cuisine to the Cajun and Creole pots of Louisiana and the fiery jerk of the Caribbean, the region turns ancient staples into something new. Barbecue, tacos, gumbo, and mole all carry stories of migration and adaptation.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.

More from Panama

Sancocho de GallinaA restorative hen soup with yam, yuca, and a mountain of culantro, Panama’s cure for everything from hangovers to heartbreak.
Tortilla Panameña con QuesoA thick, crisp-fried corn cake, not a thin tortilla at all, split hot and stuffed with melting white cheese, a staple Panamanian breakfast.
Ceviche PanameñoDiced corvina cured in lime with onion, celery, and habanero, the fish-market lunch sold in cups across Panama City.
Browse all Panama recipes →

Good to know

You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Sopa Borracha?

Sponge cake drenched in a spiced rum-and-prune syrup, Panama's boozy celebration dessert, despite the 'soup' in its name.

Where does Sopa Borracha come from?

Sopa Borracha is a Panamanian dish from Panama City, Panama.

Can Sopa Borracha be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

This Sopa Borracha recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.

Is Sopa Borracha safe for people with food allergies?

Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.

How long does Sopa Borracha take to make?

About 6 h 55 min in all: 25 minutes prep and 30 minutes cooking, plus 6 h of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 8.

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