Magdalenas

This recipe comes from the early 1920s manuscript cookbook called 'Libreta de Cocina de María del Consuelo Villanueva.' The notebook is an eclectic and cosmopolitan collection of international recipes, capturing the fusion of global and local tastes enjoyed by upper-middle-class Mexican families of the era. The magdalenas recipe reflects both domestic practicalities (using clotted cream, a byproduct of simmered milk) and European influences, being a take on the French or Spanish sponge cake. At a time when ovens were wood- or coal-fired, and precision measurements were less common, recipes relied on experience and oral transmission—using 'a tasa' (cup) and tenderness of the batter as touchstones. This recipe was shared within a family network, written as a memory aid rather than a public or commercial formula.

Cooks used a simple ceramic or metal mixing bowl and a wire whisk ('batidor de globo'), both common kitchen tools of the early twentieth century. The batter was beaten by hand until aerated. Muffin or cupcake molds, typically made of metal, were greased with butter (referred to as manteca, which could mean either lard or butter in historical Mexican Spanish), then dusted with flour to prevent sticking. The baking would have taken place in a wood-fired or early gas oven, monitored by feel rather than a thermometer, with doneness checked via the traditional method of inserting a clean straw or skewer ('popote') into the cakes.