Marquesote de Tonalá

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •8-inch square pan at least 3 inches deep or 9-inch straight-sided round pan
• •Parchment paper or clean brown baking paper
• •Stand mixer or hand mixer
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Rubber spatula for folding
• •Clay cazuela or small saucepan for optional piloncillo syrup

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the lata

   Heat the oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan at least 3 inches deep, or a 9-inch straight-sided round pan, with parchment or clean brown baking paper. Butter the pan bottom lightly so the paper stays put, but do not grease the exposed sides. Marquesote needs something to climb. A slippery pan gives you a low cake, and Tonalá did not teach us low cakes.

2. 2

   Sift the dry mix

   Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt together twice. Do it twice, not because I enjoy making you wash a sieve, but because this cake has no butter, no syrup, and no frosting to hide a heavy crumb. The flour has to fall into the eggs like dust.

3. 3

   Beat the yolks

   Put the egg yolks and 1 cup of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer. Beat on medium-high for 8 to 10 minutes, until the mixture turns thick, pale yellow, and falls from the whisk in a ribbon that sits on the surface for two seconds before sinking. Beat in the Mexican vanilla and lime zest at the end.

   The color comes from the yolks. If your eggs are pale, the cake will be pale. Do not use yellow food coloring. That is not cooking, that is makeup.
4. 4

   Whip the whites

   In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Rain in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat to medium peaks. The whites should hold their shape but still look glossy and flexible. Do not take them to dry peaks. Dry whites fold badly and leave white pockets in the cake.

5. 5

   Fold the batter

   Fold one third of the whipped whites into the yolk mixture to loosen it. Sift one third of the flour mixture over the top and fold with wide strokes from the bottom of the bowl. Repeat with the remaining whites and flour in two more additions. Stop the second the last streak disappears. The air is the leavening. The Royal is only insurance. No me vengas con atajos.

6. 6

   Bake it tall

   Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top gently. Tap the pan once on the counter, only once, to settle large air pockets. Bake for 38 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden, the center springs back when touched, and a thin skewer comes out dry. Do not open the oven for the first 30 minutes. A sponge cake notices impatience.

7. 7

   Cool and dust

   Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Lift it out by the paper, peel the paper away carefully, and cool completely on a rack. Dust the top with azúcar glass and cut with a serrated knife. The crumb should be dry, light, and yellow from the yolks, not wet like tres leches and not soft like a butter cake. This is marquesote.

8. 8

   Make optional chimbo

   For chimbo, use day-old marquesote. Simmer the piloncillo, water, canela, and cloves in a clay cazuela or small saucepan for 10 to 12 minutes, until the syrup darkens and lightly coats a spoon. Cut the cake into thick rectangles, set them in a shallow dish, and spoon the warm syrup over them until they drink it but do not collapse. Rest 20 minutes before serving. Marquesote is the cake. Chimbo is what happens when Chiapas gives that cake piloncillo and patience.

Chef Tips

• •Use room-temperature eggs. Cold yolks do not thicken the same way, and cold whites take longer to whip. Set them out one hour before you begin.
• •The batter tells you if you did the work. The yolks should fall in a ribbon, and the whites should be glossy, not dry. If either one is wrong, the cake will be dense. The oven cannot fix lazy mixing.
• •For chimbo, bake the marquesote one day ahead and leave it loosely covered. Fresh cake is too tender and can fall apart in syrup. Day-old cake drinks piloncillo properly.
• •This Tonalá is Chiapas. Serve the cake with Chiapas barro, banana leaf, a woven textile from the highlands, or a plain wooden board. Do not confuse the region. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •Do not frost this cake. If you want a frosted celebration cake, make one. Marquesote is a sponge built for sugar dusting, coffee, pozol, or piloncillo syrup. Así se hace y punto.

Advance Preparation

• •Marquesote can be baked one day ahead and kept loosely covered at room temperature. The texture improves for slicing and for soaking into chimbo.
• •The piloncillo, canela, and clove syrup can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Rewarm it gently before spooning over the cake.
• •Once soaked as chimbo, the cake keeps 2 days refrigerated in a covered dish. Bring it to room temperature before serving so the piloncillo flavor opens back up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 130g)