Bake a Bizcocho in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to bake a bizcocho in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• use the imperfect subjunctive

• talk about wishes and desires in the past

• use vocabulary related to baking

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adverb

Spanish	English
aparte	separately

examples
Esperaba que batieras los huevos aparte. I hoped that you would beat the eggs separately.

Adverb Phrase

Spanish	English
con cuidado	carefully

examples
Te pedí que lo cortaras con cuidado. I asked you to cut it carefully.

Nouns

Spanish	English
el aroma	aroma
el bizcocho	sponge cake
el glaseado	icing, glaze
la masa	batter
la nuez	nut
el pedazo	piece
la repostería	pastry (making)

examples
Quería que sintieras el aroma delicioso. I wanted you to smell the delicious aroma.
El otro día horneamos un bizcocho. The other day, we baked a sponge cake.
Esperaba que la masa quedara más suave. I hoped that the batter would be smoother.

Repostería

Note that when it’s used on its own, repostería means pastry making, pastry shop, or pastries (among other translations). However, when used in the phrase harina de repostería, it’s translated as pastry flour.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Spanish	English
batir	to beat
enfriar	to cool down
hornear	to bake

Batir

Batir(to beat) is an -ir verb that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	batiera	I beat
tú	batieras	you beat	informal singular you
vos	batieras	you beat	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	batiera	he, she beat
usted	batiera	you beat	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	batiéramos	we beat
vosotros, vosotras	batierais	you beat	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	batieran	they beat
ustedes	batieran	you beat	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Hornear

Hornear(to bake) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	horneara	I baked
tú	hornearas	you baked	informal singular you
vos	hornearas	you baked	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	horneara	he, she baked
usted	horneara	you baked	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	horneáramos	we baked
vosotros, vosotras	hornearais	you baked	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	hornearan	they baked
ustedes	hornearan	you baked	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

The Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) follows many of the same rules as the present subjunctive. Introduced with a preterite, imperfect, conditional, or past perfect WEIRDO verb in the independent clause, the imperfect subjunctive often refers to a previous experience, but can also refer to unlikely events or possibilities.

Finding the Imperfect Subjunctive Stem

The imperfect subjunctive uses the third person plural of the preterite (minus the -ron). The third person preterite form of a verb, whether regular or irregular, becomes the base for the imperfect subjunctive stem.

Imperfect Subjunctive Endings

When conjugating the imperfect subjunctive, you can choose from two different sets of endings. Both are correct, though the first set, whose yo ending is -ra, is more widespread. For this reason, we use the -ra endings in these lessons.

Subject	Subjunctive 1 Endings	Subjunctive 2 Endings
yo	-ra	-se
tú	-ras	-ses
él, ella, usted	-ra	-se
nosotros, nosotras	-ramos	-semos
vosotros, vosotras	-rais	-seis
ellos, ellas, ustedes	-ran	-sen

Imperfect Subjunctive Uses

The imperfect subjunctive can be used to talk about past occurrences, current opinions of past events, doubts and wishes, as well as in if clauses and polite requests.

The following phrases, which signal wishes and desires, indicate that we need to use the imperfect subjunctive: