Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Orange almond cake - a great cake + more great music

Orange almond cake / Bolo de amêndoa e laranja

One of the best movies I watched last year was “Like Crazy” – Anton Yelchin is such a dear (I first saw him on the excellent “Huff”, if I’m not mistaken) and I got really moved by the portrayed love story; on top of that, the music on that movie is absolutely beautiful, and I can’t stop listening to these tracks – not to mention that the latter has one of the most beautiful video clips I’ve seen. See? I don’t always discover new great music while shoe shopping – sometimes it happens in more traditional ways. :)

From one of the best movies to one of the best cakes: this orange cake, though simple, is really, really delicious: tender beyond words, moist from the almond meal, and citrusy in a perfect way, it has become one of my all-time favorites – I wasn’t too pleased with all the washing up, but a slice of it convinced me it was all for a very good cause. :D
You can use any orange juice left to make an icing for the cake but I really don’t think it’s necessary here.

Orange almond cake
slightly adapted from the beautiful Italian Home Cooking: 125 Recipes to Comfort Your Soul

1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups (175g) almond meal
3 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar, divided
2 whole eggs
½ cup (120ml) canola oil
finely grated zest of 2 large oranges
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
¾ cup (180ml) freshly squeezed orange juice, with pulp, room temperature
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and then flour a 12-cup capacity Bundt pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in the almond meal.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, place the 3 egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip until the whites are foamy, then gradually add ¾ cup (150g) of the sugar. Whip until thick and shiny, then transfer to another bowl. In the previously used mixer bowl, combined the 3 yolks and the whole eggs, the oil, the remaining ¾ cup (150g) sugar, the orange zest and both the extracts. Beat on high for 3 minutes, until pale in color. With the mixer on low speed, add the juice and beat for another minute. With a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients. Fold in the egg whites in three additions.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 20 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool completely. Dust with icing sugar, to serve.

Serves 8-10

9 comments:

Laura (Tutti Dolci) said...

I've never met a citrus and almond treat that I didn't like; what a lovely cake!

MANISAH said...

Hi Patricia. Thanks for the recipe. Indeed, it is a keeper. Had it baked just now with lesser sugar. The almond meal is the main attraction that had hubby asked for more. He is not a cake eater though.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, dear! I'm so glad to know you liked the cake and that it worked out fine with less sugar - thank you for letting me know!
xx

MANISAH said...

Yes Patricia...with less than 100g I think a little bit more reduction to only about 180g would be ok. We found it's a little bit sweet still. You're right about not having the icing on the cake! By the way, we loved your biscotti. So far I have tried 3 of your biscotti recipes. Many thanks for sharing the good things with us.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Manisah, that is great to know! I'm so glad you liked other recipes, too. Thank YOU for stopping by and letting me know, it means a lot to me!
xx

louisedp said...

Made this today...cold snowing "baking day"...OMG...it was wonderful, probably one on the best cakes I've ever tasted!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Louise, that is excellent news! Thank you for stopping by to let me know how the cake turned out!
xx

Laura said...

Gorgeous! I love this!

Anonymous said...

Hi Patricia,

I made this cake today and it was flavorful, tender and moist. My husband, our dinner guest and our dog to whom I snuck a bite join me in thanking you for this recipe.

You are so generous to share all these heavenly recipes and take the time to photograph them so beautifully. You're the best!

I hope you're enjoying your new job, but I miss you being able to post more often.

XOXOXO,

Ellen

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