Sharing the Love Through Sweets

Laz, Young’s hubby, has always been such a kind and wonderful supporter of my baked good. He is so sweet and always has a nice word for whatever I bake. For that reason, I seldom appear at their place without a sweet treat in tow.

Now that they are in Beijing, I have decided a good way to share, other than me sending them cakes and bakes through post, is to give them simple recipes of healthy cakes, so they can bake it on their own!  🙂

So, Young and Laz, just for you… my new series called Share a Cake with Young and Laz!

OKay, before I start… I know some of the pics I post will have my dear photographer Young cringing. Stay with me, cousin! I am slowly, SLOWLY getting the hang of it. Hey, anyway, I am a baker, not a photographer!  😉

Torta di Mandora

Or Moist Almond Cake. Beautifully moist with a hint of citrusy goodness from orange and nutty flavour from ground almonds.

I love cakes and I do bake often because I need to fill Rui’s lunch box everyday with something. I would rather make him some healthy snacks than to feed him something store-bought. At least I know every single ingredient that goes into my food and I am sure there are no chemical nasties and unneccessary food colourings.

Because of the regularity of my baking schedule, I do make an effort to look for recipes with less or no butter, for simple health reasons (CH is a believer of The China Study). Rather than baking with margarine, I would rather bake with healthy oils.

This lovely cake fulfils both my health requirements and my innate glutton. Made with olive oil, it is light and fruity. The addition of orange juice and zest further enhances the fruitiness. And like all cakes made with ground almonds, it has a great bite and an incredible fragrance that even my fussy PROFESSIONAL baker dad loves.

This recipe is now marked as “well worth repeating” in my ratty note book. The next time I make this, I will substitute flaxseed meal for one or maybe two of the eggs.

I made this cake without the glaze but it is highly recommended by many bloggers out there. Try it and let me know if it is worth the time browning the butter!  🙂

For the cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup ground almond

1  1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 large eggs 

 3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange

1) Grease and flour a 7-inch round cake tin

2) Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius

3) Sift the flour, ground almond, salt and baking powder. Set aside

4) In another bowl, by hand or using a handheld beater, beat the eggs and the sugar until the mixture is light and lemony

5) Beating the egg mixture at a medium speed, slowly add the olive oil, vanilla extract and the orange juice and zest

6) With a spatula, gently fold in the flour mixture

7) Scoop mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a cake tester come out clean

For the glaze:

2 tbsp browned butter

1 cup icing sugar

3 tbsp milk

A few drops of lemon juice

1) Mix all of the ingredients together and spread on top of cooled cake

2) Savour or gobble!