Cake for breakfast!

Forget muesli and fruit – the Spaniards like their breakfasts staggeringly sweet and are quite happy to serve a breakfast cake with their coffees in the mornings, or else some delicious pastries, including round ones called rosquillas which are scented with orange.

The other favourite, of course, is churros con chocolate – sugar-dusted fritters dipped in thick drinking chocolate – but that is worth an entire post of its own!

Julio-Carlos, Salvelio´s best friend and our host in Guijuelo, made a delicious marbled breakfast cake this week and we managed to coax the recipe out of him.

This recipe serves 8

Ingredients

4 eggs (extra-large or jumbo) and these must add up in weight to the weight of each of the following: sugar; flour and butter;(ie if the eggs weigh 200g in total then use 200 of sugar, 200g of flour and 200g of butter); 1 teaspoon baking powder; grated rind of one lemon; a pinch of salt; 1 or 2 Tbsp cocoa powder

Method

Using an electric beater or whisk, beat the eggs and sugar together until foamy. Add the lemon rind, salt and butter (the latter must be very soft). Add the flour which has been sifted along with the baking powder; fold in.

Split the mixture into two parts. Add the cocoa powder to the one half and fold in. In a greased 22cm loaf pan, put half of the plain mixture, then cover with all of the cocoa mixture. Finally cover with the rest of the plain mixture.

Drag a fork through the entire length of the mixture, then bake at the bottom of a pre-heated oven at 180C for 45 min.

Test with a fork to see if cooked through. When done, remove from the oven and remove from the mould while still warm. Place on a serving dish and sprinkle sifted castor sugar over.

Serve cold.