Niño Envuelto (Jelly Roll), 1939.

Rubio, Socorro. Libreta de Cocina. 1939. TX716 .M4 R82 1939. Mexican Cookbook Collection. UTSA Libraries Special Collections. [Digital Surrogate]

During September and October, La Cocina Histórica will feature recipes from recently digitized manuscript cookbooks.

This week’s manuscript cookbook is somewhat unusual in that it is illustrated! Socorro Rubio apparently cut images from newspapers and other sources and pasted them into her handwritten recipe book.

Sometimes, the illustrations depict a specific dish, such as the loaf of bread following Pan Inglés, while other times the association is more general, as with the Royal Baking Powder image following the Japonesas recipe (cookies prepared with strawberry jam) or the scene of a woman preparing to bake following Galletas Almendredas. A few pages also have hand-drawn sketches (perhaps by a later owner or a child?), such as the shoe designs on the verso of page 42.

Although the latter part of the cookbook includes various savory recipes for dishes such as Tacos Poblanos and Mole Verde, the bulk of its contents are for baked goods, such as the simple sponge cake jelly roll below.

Niño Envuelto (Page03)

1 00 g. de harina
100 g. de azucar
6 huevos
1 lata de mermelada

Manera de hacerse

En una cacerola enamellada o caso de cobre se ponen 100 gramos de azucar junto con 6 yemas se bate hasta que espese es decir hasta que tenga punto de cordón enseguido la harina se cierne y se mezcla con cucharada de madera y se le agregan las 6 claras batidas a punto de turrón y se mezclan suavemente para que no se baje el batido este pasta se vacía en una charola de horno que estará perfectamente engrasada y enharinada se mete al horno en la seccion de enmedio hasta que dore se saca del horno y se vacía del horno y se vacía sobre una servilleta se unta de mermelada encima; se unta y se enrolla suavemente hasta que enfrie se parte de las orillas diagonalmente si se desea se parte a la mitad se unta de mermelada y se le pone coco encima.

Jelly Roll (Page03)

1 00 grams flour
100 grams sugar
6 eggs
1 jar of marmalade or jam

Manera de hacerse

Combine 100 grams of sugar with 6 egg yolks in an enameled or copper pot beat until thickened to the ribbon stage. Immediately sift the flour in and mix with a wooden spoon. Fold in 6 egg whites (beaten separately to soft peaks) so that the mixture doesn’t collapse. Bake in a greased and floured pan in the middle of the oven until golden. When you remove the cake from the oven, turn it out of the pan onto a cloth napkin. Spread with jam or marmalade and gently roll it up.[1] When cool, cut into diagonal slices. If desired, reduce the amount of jam or marmalade by half and put coconut on top.

[1] The lack of punctuation in the original recipe makes it somewhat difficult to determine which steps should be separated out to occur at different stages. I’ve translated the instructions as written to the best of my ability, but it may be worth noting that in my own experience, the process for making a jelly roll is usually slightly different: the cake is turned out out onto a tea towel while still warm, rolled into a log with the tea towel, allowed to cool, unrolled, spread with jam, and then re-rolled. I suspect that spreading the jam or marmalade onto the cake prior to rolling it the first time would cause it to melt into the cake, rather than remain a distinct filling.