VALENCIANAS

This recipe is at the request of Emily, who got in touch to ask for this recipe for her nan after watching me talking about the Made in Spain book at Lorraine"s.

Valencianas are elongated cakes. The whole point of that shape is that you normally dunk them in hot milk for breakfast. It is actually very difficult to buy the long paper cases in the UK so we did them  mini-loaf paper cases instead.

There are lots of recipes in the internet, all very different. We had to phone a friend of mine from Valencia to find the closest one to the real thing ( which is normally shop bought in Valencia from any of the fantastic bakeries there). This one comes from http://recetastradicionalesdecocina.blogspot.com.es/2014/07/receta-de-las-magdalenas-valencianas.html. We have only adjusted the quantities a tiny bit.

For nine Valencianas you need:
- 2 eggs
- 200 gr sugar
-200 gr plain flour
- 85 ml sunflower oil
- 170 ml milk
- a teaspoon of baking powder
- grated rind of a lemon
- caster sugar


Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
Mix the sugar and eggs ( we did this by hand) until they become pale. Add the oil, lemon rind and milk and keep mixing. Then add the flour and baking powder.  Pour the mixture into the cases (use double paper cases so that they do not expand too much) sprinkle a bit of sugar on top of each valenciana and bake for 25 minutes (check after 20 minutes - they should be golden but pale)

The children loved them and they really make your kitchen feel wholesome.