Magdalenas de Limón

Ingredients

• 3 egg
• 170 g white sugar, plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling
• 1¼ dl olive oil
• 4 tbsp milk
• 200 g wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt

Method

1. 1.

   Whip the eggs to ribbon stage — Beat the eggs and the 170 g of sugar with an electric whisk for a full 5-6 minutes, until the mixture is pale, thick and roughly tripled in volume and a trail of batter sits on the surface for a couple of seconds. This aeration is most of the lift the cakes will get, so do not cut it short.

2. 2.

   Emulsify the oil and milk — With the whisk on its lowest speed, pour in the olive oil in a thin, steady stream so it emulsifies rather than splits, then the milk. The batter should look glossy and loose.

3. 3.

   Fold in flour and lemon — Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt over the bowl, add the lemon zest and fold everything in with a spatula in a few decisive strokes. Stop the moment no dry flour is visible — overworking here gives flat, tough magdalenas.

4. 4.

   Chill the batter — Cover the bowl and chill the batter for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Cold, thickened batter is exactly what forces the classic high, cracked dome once it hits a very hot oven.

5. 5.

   Fill and sugar the cases — Heat the oven to 250 °C with a baking tray on the middle shelf. Stand paper cases in a 12-hole muffin tin, fill each one three-quarters full with the cold batter and sprinkle the tops with the extra sugar.

6. 6.

   Bake for a cracked dome — Slide the tin in and immediately turn the oven down to 210 °C. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the domes have split open, the sugar crust is deep gold and a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before lifting them out.