Torta alle Mandorle Siciliana – Sicilian Almond Cake
Pane-Bistecca
Childhood memories… somehow I’m becoming more and more Italian again, the older I get, back to my roots? These include this Torta alle Mandorle Siciliana.
We had a baker in our village, in Italy, who made wonderful pasticcini (small pastries). There was nothing missing! From apple tarts (pasta frolla alle mele), to amarettino, or pasticcini al cioccolato (chocolate pastries), to cream cones (cornetto), to Sicilian almond cake, there was everything! My Nonna’s birthday was in August and since it was around Ferragosto, the Italian national holiday, everyone had the day off so the whole family was visiting her.
On her birthday, my mom packed us girls up in pretty little dresses she made herself and we got to go to the pasticcere! A highlight of our vacations!!! Sure we had different ideas, we kids knew what we wanted, but my mom wanted to shop for the whole family. However, she made it clear that we were allowed to pick one just for us that no one would dispute. Mine was the apple tartlet and the pasticcere knew it, he had packed it long ago. My sister wanted the cornetto, he knew that too.
Here’s my version of the Sicilian almond tart, an Easter pastry, but one that tastes good all year round too! We made it for the birthday of a very dear friend who was completely speechless when she walked in the door. She had not expected that!
We had a baker in our village, in Italy, who made wonderful pasticcini (small pastries). There was nothing missing! From apple tarts (pasta frolla alle mele), to amarettino, or pasticcini al cioccolato (chocolate pastries), to cream cones (cornetto), to Sicilian almond cake, there was everything! My Nonna’s birthday was in August and since it was around Ferragosto, the Italian national holiday, everyone had the day off so the whole family was visiting her.
On her birthday, my mom packed us girls up in pretty little dresses she made herself and we got to go to the pasticcere! A highlight of our vacations!!! Sure we had different ideas, we kids knew what we wanted, but my mom wanted to shop for the whole family. However, she made it clear that we were allowed to pick one just for us that no one would dispute. Mine was the apple tartlet and the pasticcere knew it, he had packed it long ago. My sister wanted the cornetto, he knew that too.
Here’s my version of the Sicilian almond tart, an Easter pastry, but one that tastes good all year round too! We made it for the birthday of a very dear friend who was completely speechless when she walked in the door. She had not expected that!
Ingredients
For the Short-crust Pastry:
250 g Flour
200 g Butter
2 Eggs
100 g Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
3 Drops Bitter Almond Extract
450 g ground Almond
120 g Sugar
170 g Butter
3 Eggs
For the Filling:
Instructions
1
Step 1
Make a short-crust pastry from the first part of ingredients, put them together quickly, don’t knead for long, and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2
Step 2
Then grease a large round cake pan and line with the dough, Raise the edge and lightly decorate as desired.
3
Step 3
Now spread this base with bitter orange marmalade. I used my own kumquat jam, the bitter gives the cake a special touch. If you don’t like bitter, you can use apricot jam.
4
Step 4
Mix the ingredients together and pour onto the jam on the base, smoothing it out. Then nicely cover the edge with whole almonds. Bake in the oven at 180 C degrees for about 30-35 minutes. After cooling, decorate with sugar flowers.
Notes
The cake is not just a highlight at Easter!
