Magdalenas: Spanish Breakfast Cakes

If you've ever had breakfast in Madrid, you've probably had magdalenas (aka madalenas), the Spanish version of the French madeleine.   Most magdalenas are flavored with citrus zest (either lemon or orange), but otherwise they can vary quite a bit.   Some resemble little spongecakes. Others are more like pound cake. The ones I made for this post taste a bit like powdered doughnuts to me, but Ana, who knows her magdalenas, says they are closer to bica, a Galician bizcocho. I will post about other styles of magdalenas, as well as sobaos and other Spanish  breakfast cakes,  in the near future.

Note: like many olive oil cakes and pastries, these magdalenas actually taste better the second day.  Hot out of the oven they will have a disappointing, "bread-y" taste, so plan ahead and make them a day before you eat them.   

Ingredients:

1 egg

1 cup of sugar (plus more for sprinkling)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup yogurt

1 cup of spiced olive oil (see my post on how to make Spiced Olive Oil, aceite desahumado)

3 cups of flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon of grated orange zest

First make the Spiced Olive Oil.

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar well.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a separate bowl.

Mix the milk and yogurt in a cup.

Stir a little of the flour mixture into the eggs and sugar, then stir a little of the milk mixture in.  Keep alternating, and stirring, until it's all combined.

Stir in the spiced olive oil and zest.

Put the batter in an oiled muffin pans or papers. Sprinkle each muffin with a little sugar.

Bake them 15 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the biggest magdalena. If it comes out clean, they're done. 

Cool the magdalenas  on racks.  Again their flavor and texture will be much better the second day.

Serve them for breakfast, for a mid-morning coffee break, or for the merienda.

Comments

[Sandy Halliday]

We were told that magdelena was the word for muffin when my husband was looking for some to eat here. I see you do use the word muffin in the directions.

The Spanish don't seem to be into muffins yet as we know them!

[Bill]

Hi, Sandy,

You're right! The Spanish don't seem to be into muffins. I think magdalena gets translated as "muffin" because many of them (not all) have a muffin-like shape. And they are a sweet cake-like thing to eat for breakfast, but really quite different from muffins.

Thanks for reading.

Bill

[kayla]

Actually its spanish for cupcake.