A superb Moorish orange and almond cake from Moro – The CookBook . This is a very useful recipe for those with a wheat difficulty since it is just almonds, eggs and caster sugar that provide the substance.
Planning
| serves: | 6 |
| preparation time: | 20 mins |
| cooking time: | 1½ hrs |
Ingredients
- 6 eggs, separated
- 240g caster sugar
- 230g ground almonds
- finely grated zest of 2½ oranges
- juice of 8 oranges, preferably Seville
- juice of 1½ lemons (if not using Seville oranges)
- 1 stick cinnamon
- caster sugar to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line the bottom and sides of a 23cm spring-form tin with greaseproof paper.
Retaining one tablespoon of caster sugar for later, beat the rest of the 240g caster sugar together with the egg yolks until pale. Now mix in the almonds and zest. Beat the egg whites with the retained tablespoon of caster sugar until stiff and then fold gently into the egg mixture trying not to knock out the air. Carefully put the mixture into the lined tin, place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for about 60-70 minutes until the torta is golden on top and firm to the touch.
While the torta is baking, make some orange syrup. Place the orange juice and, if using, the lemon juice into a saucepan together with the cinnamon stick and a handful of sugar. Bring this gently to the boil and simmer for about five minutes. Taste – the syrup should be quite tart. Allow to cool then place in the fridge.
When the torta is ready, remove it from the oven and allow to cool before opening the spring-form tin. Transfer it to a plate and pierce holes in the top (a skewer or carving fork works well). Soak about up to about half of the syrup into the torta.
Serve the remaining syrup on the side.
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