Recipe: Pastel Esponjoso (Sponge Cake Loaf)

time frame is but I got out several of my Mexican cookbooks and did a little research for you. (I have taught Spanish and have done quite a few cooking projects with my middle school classes.) In the Authentic Mexican cookbook which features cooking from the heart of Mexico, there was a whole section on Oaxaca. I would advise making something "sweet" for your dish. Kids have a tendancy to be kind of "picky" about trying things and I've discovered that desserts are always popular. I'm going to paraphrase what they say in the dessert section---Oaxaca is known for its cakey sweets, puff-pastry turnovers, coconut sugar bars. I found a couple of recipes that seem like they will work for you.

This recipe looks rather simple to make:

Pastel Esponjoso (Sponge Cake Loaf)

1 cup cake flour
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
5 egg yolks
1/2 tsp. salt
5 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp almond extract

Combine flour and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar: set aside. Beat egg yolks about 5 minutes or till thick and lemon-colored. Gradually add remaining 3/4 cup powdered sugar and salt, beating constantly. With clean beaters, beat egg whites, vanilla, cream of tartar, and almond extract till soft peaks form. Gently fold yolk mixture into egg whites.

Sift glour mixture over batter 1/3 at a time; gently fold after each addition. Turn into an UNGREASED 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake in 325 oven for 45-50 minutes. Invert cake in pan; cool.. Makes 1 loaf.


Polvorones

1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 finely chopped pecans or walnuts
1/8 tsp salt

Cream butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Combine flour, pecans and salt. Stir into the butter mixture. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake in 325 oven 20-25 minutes till lightly browned. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar. Cool on wire racks, then rollagain in powdered sugar.

These two recipes are from the Better Homes and Gardens Mexican Cookbook and seemed easier than the ones in the other cookbook. It didn't actually say these particular recipes were from Oaxaca, however, they seemed to fit the general description of the type of dessert from there.

Good luck----hope you get a good grade on your project.

Kar