ORANGE AND ALMOND CAKE FOR MAMA Ía BLOG 10TH BIRTHDAY!

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Events & Travel celebration, gluten free, Onteniente, Ontinyent, torta 4 Comments

Oranges and almonds for a celebratory post: Mama Ía is 10 years old!

You may have noticed I haven’t posted in a while, and there’s a good explanation for it. But I didn’t want to wait any longer, because Mama Ía blog is having a big anniversary: 10 years since the first post! I still find it hard to believe. And I wanted to celebrate with orange and almond cake, a recipe that pays homage to some of the products grown in my hometown of Onteniente.

The orange and almond cake is absolutely delicious, and like most of my recipes (I won’t get tired of repeating this), easy to make. I love it with my coffee in the morning for breakfast, and it’s perfect for afternoon tea or for a snack between meals. It is gluten-free, another added advantage for the gluten intolerant amongst you.

To accompany this post, a hodgepodge of some of the things that have happened since my last post: Christmas, New Year’s, the boys that came and went, friends visits, cold and snowy days in Fort Wayne, meals with friends, concerts. Life is never dull!

If you walk or drive through the fields surrounding Onteniente, you will find many kinds of fruit trees —nest to the abundant vineyards, you’ll encounter fig, apricot, walnut, peach, plum trees. But if there are two I’d choose as very beloved by the locals, they would be the almond and the orange trees. I’ve talked quite a bit on this blog about plum fields, particularly in el Taroncheral, the house I grew up in (check here and here). But a walk through the pastry shops and bakeries in Onteniente will render many desserts made with both almonds and oranges.

The garden at sunset. No filters!

Handel’s Messiah, a yearly tradition

When I look at the 10 years that have passed since my first post on Mama Ía blog —for churros!— I can’t help but be amazed that it has been going on for so long. More so, when I look at my children in the photos from the very first blog posts to today. Just like my sons, Mama Ía has grown and changed a bit too, from when I used to cook for five people to now, that I cook for just two. Not only I’m slowly learning how to shop for a smaller household, but also how to keep meals interesting. Because, more often than not, I cook too much and we have leftover meals. Most weeks, then, I don’t cook all seven days of the week.

This is one of the reasons why I haven’t posted so much lately.

Another reason would be a change in eating habits. With the three grown up boys out of the house, Dave and I have been trying to eat less sugar, which means, less desserts. It is a trade off for me, because my blog posts with dessert recipes get the most views! —everyone likes a beautiful cake or a yummy cookie. However, we have made a conscious decision to eat less of an ingredient that, while necessary for the body, as we get older, we need in less quantity for a healthier body and longer life. But don’t fret, I will still make desserts and post recipes here! An example is today’s recipe, orange and almond cake.

And there’s yet another reason for the fewer posts.

Throughout these 10 years, you have seen that many of the posts on the blog included my sons in their many activities —playing piano, playing guitar or drums, playing soccer, and a number of other activities in between. All these events and activities were performed at a high, intense level, meaning, they required countless practices, games, tournaments, concerts, performances or recitals, usually involving travel. With all those activities now out of the schedule for Dave and I, we’ve had to fill that void. Together with my regular activities that you’re familiar with —blogging, cooking, photography, writing, and researching for my books—, I have added one more: I am now a medical interpreter. Something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but couldn’t find the time for, has now presented itself as a good opportunity.

Being bilingual in English and Spanish, and having a background in healthcare, has allowed me start this new venture, to be the connection between patients that don’t speak English and doctors and other providers that don’t speak Spanish. This job is so rewarding! I facilitate the communication between these two groups of people, for information that is vital to the patient well-being and health.

So while I love to cook, photograph and blog —and especially, eat what I cook!—, you may receive a new blog post notification with less frequency. I hope you will understand it and will continue to follow Mama Ía blog —and above all, make its recipes!

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your support all these years.

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5 from 1 vote

ORANGE AND ALMOND CAKE

Torta de Naranja y Almendra

Author: Natacha Sanz Caballero, Mama Ía blog

Equipment

• 8 in springform pan
• Stand up mixer

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond flour
• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 6 Tbs butter
• 1 orange
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp orange blossom water
• 1 Tbs icing sugar

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF
• Grease the bottom and sides of the springform pan with some butter, then dust some of the almond flour (about 1 Tbs), which will stick to the buttered walls.
• Melt the butter. Zest the orange, then juice it.
• Separate the eggs. In a stand up mixer, beat the yolks with half of the sugar until frothy. Add in the melted butter, orange zest and juice and mix.
• In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, ground almonds and baking powder. Add the yolk mixture to the almond mixture and stir to combine.
• In the bowl of the stand up mixer, beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff.
• With a rubber spatula, gently fold the beaten egg whites into the yolks and almond mix. Pour this batter into the springform pan and bake for about 40 minutes (check at the 30 minute mark, because all ovens are different and therefore this baking time may vary).
• Remove from the oven, let the cake cool down, then finish with a dusting of icing sugar and a few thin strips of orange peel, if desired.