Batidas Pesadas is what the manual said, and indeed, that’s what we worked on – literally, “heavy beaten things”, these are batters that include fat in the form of butter, margarine, oil, etc., and are beaten to blend the fat with the sugar, after which everything else gets mixed in – generally flour, eggs, and flavorings. Here, the most common result is what’s called a budín, a small, loaf shaped pound cake or fruit cake kind of thing, and, the latter are exactly what we would think of back home for this type of batter. The raising agent is “chemical”, i.e., baking powder and/or baking soda, rather than the whipped egg whites or whole eggs of the bizcochuelos, or sponge cakes, that we started with (which also contain no fat other than what’s in the eggs).

We also worked on “dry merengues” – Italian merengue mixed with cornstarch and powdered sugar (and coloring/flavoring) and then piped out and dried in a warm oven for a couple of hours.

Dry Merengues

My budines, one fruit, one chocolate, before glazing

My budines, glazed and finished

And, the whole class’s budines, lined up