A cupcake

a real one this time!
It´s been so long since I shared a recipe with you that today I want to give you a cupcake recipe I learnt to make 10 year ago and it´s one of my favorites. This is a Spanish recipe I found in a cooking book which compiles some Spanish nuns´s (under the order of Santa Clara, Clarisa´s nuns) recipes and they are called magdalenas.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups + 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grained salt

Preparation:

• Preheat the over at 350°F (180°C).
• In one bowl mix all dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt, and set aside.
• In another but large bowl put the egg and sugar, take your mixer and beat them together until you get a spongy-like egg mixture (you can whisk them by hand too but it´s faster with the mixer).
• Slowly beat in the oil taking care you integrate all the oil before the next step.
• At this point I switch to a hand whisk but you can continue with the mixer if you want, I take better control using my hands. Now you mix in the milk and vanilla extract. It´ll became very liquid but that´s fine.
• And finally, integrate in the egg mixture all the dry ingredients you set aside at the beginning trying not to over mix your dough.
• Line a cupcake pan with paper baking cups and fill them with dough to reach 2/3th of the cup
• Sprinkle some white sugar on top and take them to the oven for 15-20 min approx. (it´ll depend on how large your cupcake cups are) or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. They will turn into a nice golden brown color. Let them cool before eating.

There are some little changes you can do to make them slightly different:
replace 1/2 cup of the all purpose flour by whole wheat flour
replace the milk by orange juice (or any other fruit juice)
replace white sugar by light brown sugar
replace canola oil by sunflower oil
do not sprinkle with sugar and frost them after they cool


I like their homemade look they get after baking so I don´t add any frosting, but I´m sure they´ll make great birthday cupcakes. Hope you try this recipe, it´s very easy and they are wonderful for breakfast or tea time. And remember you´ll improving them every time you make them!