Spain - Magdalenas

Background
Spain is known for its highly regional cuisine, and many books have been written extolling the virtues and depth of this regional specificity. A quick internet search finds that the Spanish have very small breakfasts usually consisting of some bread and coffee. While the idea of bread and coffee is constant, the form of bread is varied. I was able to find three common types. Churros are fried dough sprinkled with sugar. They required deep frying, so we decided to look for other options. Torrijas is a bread pudding flavored with sugar and cinnamon, but we were unable to track down a recipe in a cookbook. Sobao is a muffin eaten in the north of Spain that was recommended to us by a lovely Spanish couple we met on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, we were also unable to find a recipe. In the end we decided on another form of muffins called magdalenas. We found a recipe in The New Spanish Table which the author attributes to a master baker named Xavier Canal in Barcelona. We served the magdalenas with with cafe con leche.

Orange and Pistachio Magdalenas

• 1 cup cake flour
  (¾ cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour + 2 tbsp cornstarch)
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• ¾ tbsp baking soda
• 3 eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cup confectionery sugar
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• ¼ cup orange juice
• ½ cup light olive oil
• 1/3 cup lightly toasted pistachios
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• butter, at room temperature (for greasing the tin)

1. Mix flours, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
2. Beat eggs with an electric mixer until they are fluffy, about one minute.
3. Add the confectionery sugar and beat the mixture at high speeds until the mixture is yellow and the volume has tripled, about 5 minutes.
4. Mix olive oil, orange juice, and cream.
5. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture followed by 1/3 of the oil mixture.  Repeat until they are depleted.
6. Stir in the orange zest and pistachios.
7. Cover the mixture and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
8. Meanwhile grease the mini-muffin tins with butter and preheat the oven to 375°F.
9. Fill the muffin tins almost to the brim.
10. Bake in the center rack for 20 to 23 minutes switching their positions after 10 minutes.  Pay very close attention to them towards the end as they can dry out quickly.
11. Let them cool for 15 to 20 minutes and then sprinkle with confectionery sugar.

Results and Discussion
This breakfast was easy and tasty. Most of the time was spent waiting for baking and cooling. The magdalenas have a nice crispy exterior and a moist cakey interior. The pistachios and orange flavoring add a great flavor profile and makes them taste very refreshing. These would make a part of a larger breakfast as muffins.
I also understand why the Spanish have a large lunch.  We spent the day out Christmas shopping and both got really hungry around 3 o'clock. Carbs and coffee only go so far when you spend all day walking.