(Maddalena cake - Traditional recipe)

Time: preparation: 40 minutes ........ cooking: 45 minutes 4 eggs 120 g (4 1/4 oz) sugar 80 g (2 3/4 oz) white flour 40 g (1 1/3 oz) potato starch 40 g (1 1/3 oz) unsalted butter A pinch of vanilla powder A pinch of salt Medium difficulty

  Spoon measures are American spoons, that is standard cook's measuring spoons used in USA.
  The best plan is to regard 2 American teaspoons or tablespoons as 1 English teaspoon or tablespoon (eating spoons)

Maddalena cake is the ideal basis for making an iced or a filled cake. You have to use no yeast for preparing it. The secret of its soft and light dough is whisking eggs very well and slowly in order to give the mixture the possibility to imprison many little air bubbles. Another secret is: don't open oven while cake is cooking!
The doses are enough for a 24-26 cm (about 10in) cake tin.
Put eggs and sugar in a little saucepan and place it in a bain-marie over a very low heat. Beat the mixture with a whisk until it becomes foamy. Be careful not to warm up too much: the dough could become too dry. Remove the saucepan from the heat and keep on whisking until the cream is cold. At this point melt 30 g (1 oz) butter. Butter a 24-26 cm (about 10in) cake tin with the remaining fat. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Mix flour, potato starch, salt and vanilla powder and add this mixture to the cream through a strainer. Stir with circular movements from the bottom upwards, using a wooden spoon. Be careful not to collapse your mixture.
Add melted butter, stir, pour the dough into the cake tin and level the surface. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the surface is golden.
Let the cake cool before stuffing or icing. The best thing would be to prepare it the day before.

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