Chef Lupita
Alegrías de Amaranto de Tulyehualco
Ciudad de México's Tulyehualco alegría is popped huautli folded into piloncillo honey, pressed with peanuts, pepitas, and raisins, then cut into the rectangular bars that built a pueblo's identity.
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Garibaldi Chilango
Created by
Ciudad de México's merienda cake, born in the old panaderías: tender butter crumb, apricot glaze, and white gragea that sticks to your fingers.
Desserts
Mexican
Comfort Food
Special Occasion
25 min
Active Time
18 min cook•43 min total
Yield12 small cakes
Ciudad de México owns the garibaldi. Not Jalisco, not Puebla, not the north. This is a Chilango bakery cake, the kind you buy in a paper bag from a panadería window and eat with café con leche in the late afternoon.
The flavor is butter, egg, vanilla, and chabacano. No chile, no cinnamon drama, no pretending all Mexican food has to shout. The apricot glaze is what makes the white gragea stick, and that crunch against the soft crumb is the whole point. If the cake is dry, you failed the butter. If the glaze is thin, the gragea falls off. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.
I learned this one from a baker near Mercado Medellín who measured butter with her hand and still got the same crumb every time. She told me, 'No lo batas de más,' don't overbeat it. She was right. Garibaldis look playful, but the technique is disciplined: cream properly, fold gently, bake just until golden. Así se hace y punto.
The garibaldi is associated with Pastelería El Globo in Ciudad de México, founded in 1884, and named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian nationalist figure whose name was widely known in 19th-century Mexico. The cake reflects the capital's bakery culture, where European butter cakes were absorbed into Mexican merienda habits and sold beside conchas, orejas, and campechanas. Its identity is Chilango: small, sweet, practical, and tied to the daily rhythm of café, pan dulce, and conversation.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
unsalted butter
Quantity
1 cup
softened
granulated sugar
Quantity
1 cup
large eggs
Quantity
4
at room temperature
Mexican vanilla extract
Quantity
2 teaspoons
all-purpose flour
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
baking powder
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
whole milk
Quantity
1/4 cup
at room temperature
apricot jam or preserves
Quantity
3/4 cup
water
Quantity
2 tablespoons
white nonpareils (gragea blanca)
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
softened butter and flour
Quantity
as needed
for preparing the molds
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| unsalted buttersoftened | 1 cup |
| granulated sugar | 1 cup |
| large eggsat room temperature | 4 |
| Mexican vanilla extract | 2 teaspoons |
| all-purpose flour | 1 1/2 cups |
| baking powder | 1 1/2 teaspoons |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| whole milkat room temperature | 1/4 cup |
| apricot jam or preserves | 3/4 cup |
| water | 2 tablespoons |
| white nonpareils (gragea blanca) | 1 1/2 cups |
| softened butter and flourfor preparing the molds | as needed |
Equipment Needed
- •12 small fluted garibaldi molds or standard muffin tin
- •Stand mixer or hand mixer
- •Pastry brush
- •Wire cooling rack
- •Small saucepan
- •Fine-mesh strainer
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the molds
Heat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour 12 small fluted molds or a standard muffin tin. Tap out the excess flour. Garibaldis should release cleanly, with their little ridges intact. A paper liner gives you a cupcake, not a garibaldi.
- 2
Cream the butter
Beat the softened butter and sugar together until pale and lighter in texture, about 3 minutes with a mixer. Do not rush this. The air you build here gives the cake its tender crumb. Butter that is cold will fight you. Butter that is greasy and melted will make the cakes heavy.
- 3
Add eggs and vanilla
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the bowl after the second and fourth egg. Add the Mexican vanilla. The batter may look slightly loose after the last egg, but it should not look broken. Room-temperature eggs matter because they join the butter instead of shocking it.
- 4
Fold the batter
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Add half the dry mixture to the butter mixture and fold on low speed or by hand. Add the milk, then the remaining dry mixture. Stop as soon as no dry streaks remain. No me vengas con atajos, and also do not overmix. Overworked flour makes a tough little cake.
- 5
Bake until golden
Divide the batter among the molds, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake 16 to 18 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean. The edges should pull slightly from the mold. Cool in the pan for 8 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.
- 6
Make the glaze
Warm the apricot jam with the water in a small saucepan over low heat until loose and glossy. Strain it if the preserves have large pieces of fruit. You want a smooth chabacano glaze that coats the cake in a thin sticky layer, not a clump of jam sitting on top.
- 7
Coat with gragea
Brush each warm cake all over with the apricot glaze. Roll immediately in the white nonpareils, pressing gently so they cling to the sides and top. Work while the glaze is tacky. If it dries, the gragea will fall off and you will know exactly why.
- 8
Rest and serve
Let the garibaldis rest 20 minutes so the glaze settles and the crumb finishes cooling. Serve with café de olla, hot chocolate, or plain café con leche. This is merienda from Ciudad de México. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Chef Tips
- •Use real butter. Margarine gives you the wrong flavor and a greasy crumb. This cake is built on butter, so buy good butter and let it soften properly.
- •Gragea blanca is the traditional finish. Rainbow sprinkles are for other things. The white nonpareils give the garibaldi its clean bakery look and tiny sugar crunch.
- •Apricot jam, chabacano, is not decoration. It gives acidity, shine, and the sticky surface that holds the gragea. If you use peach jam, it will work, but it is a compromise.
- •Small fluted molds are best. A muffin tin works for a home kitchen, but grease it well and do not use paper liners.
Advance Preparation
- •The cakes can be baked one day ahead and kept covered at room temperature before glazing.
- •Glaze and coat with gragea the day you serve them. The sugar beads soften if they sit too long under plastic.
- •Finished garibaldis keep at room temperature for two days in a loosely covered container.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 110g)
Calories
445 calories
Total Fat
18 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
105 mg
Sodium
190 mg
Total Carbohydrates
67 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
48 g
Protein
4 g
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