Almond Orange Cake

One of my favorite things about the spring and summer is that everyone spends more time with friends.  I feel like summers are busy- travel, vacations, weddings, etc.  But it’s so much easier to venture out of your house (or your PJ’s) and have a drink or dinner with a friend when it’s still light out at 8pm.  With the dreaded cold weather behind us (90’s have started off the summer in DC), summer is in full swing.

As we mentioned previously, we recently bought a new house and the extra space allows us to entertain more.  It’s nice to have friends drop in for barbeque, pizza or dessert.  And when you want to throw something together in a hurry it’s always hard to find a quick dessert.  So I’ve done a little research (ahem: taste testing) for all of you, and I highly recommend this cake.

It’s not even a cake, it’s a delicious dessert that can be eaten after a meal, or a perfect breakfast with a cup of tea or coffee.  I made this over a month ago when I had some girlfriends over for a Mexican night, and I can still remember the moist and fluffy cake.  It was perfect the next morning, so it can easily be made the night before.

Almond Orange Cake
Adapted from: The Mexican Cookbook

1 cup raw almonds
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
juice from 1 large orange (about 4 tbsp)
10 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Add the almonds to the food processor, and puree them until they are a mealy mixture.

In a stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar, until smooth and fluffy.  Then beat in the eggs, pureed almonds, almond extract, vanilla extract and orange juice.  Next stir in the flour and salt, mix until it’s incorporated.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Butter or spray  an 8-inch spring form.  Pour in the better, smooth the top of the surface.  Bake the cake for 40 minutes, or until it feels spongy when gently pressed.  Remove from the oven and let stand to cool.

Prior to serving, dust with powdered sugar.

Food Matters Project #41: Kumquat & Orange Sorbet

As the temperatures are warming up, we are all wanting desserts that are cold and refreshing.  Thankfully, my new friend Meg, of Fledgling Foodie, reminded us of this with this weeks Food Matters Project!  From Mark Bittman’s Food Matters Cookbook, Meg chose the Chocolate Tofu Ice Cream recipe.  Check out her post here.  Also, take a peek a what other Food Matters Project participants did here.

I took the route of a frozen dessert…but I diverged a bit with a fruity one, rather than chocolate.  A couple of weeks ago I was reading a DC bloggers post about kumquat sorbet.  I’ve never had kumquats before, but the photo’s made it look so delicious.  So I blame Nik, of A Brown Table, for the fact that I didn’t follow Mark Bittman’s recipe.

I’ve been reading Nik’s blog for quite some time- he’s so inspiring by telling stories how he came to choose various recipes, reasons behind particular ingredients, and his amazing photos.  I think I pin most of his recipes on my Pinterest page since they all look so delicious.

Although I have never had a kumquat, I decided to try making this recipe.  I did buy extra kumquats to snack on, and figured it would be a great way to taste this new fruit.  They are sour (more than lemons), a little bitter, and somewhat sweet- definitely something I’ve never tasted before.  To add a little more sweetness, I did add freshly squeezed orange juice.

And now that the sorbet is almost gone, I’m trying to think of other frozen desserts for the summer months.  Any recommendations?  We’ve previously made a Pear Sorbet and Rum Raisin Ice Cream.

Kumquat & Orange Sorbet
Adapted from: A Brown Table

Boiling the kumquats takes out the bitterness from the fruit, I highly recommend doing this. 

12 oz kumquats
6 cups water (to boil kumquats)
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 inch ginger, peeled
juice of 1 orange

Rinse the kumquats, cut the ends of each fruit- discarding the cut pieces.  Then cut each fruit in half, and pick out the seeds.  Add the kumquats to a medium saucepan, and cover with 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, then discard the water and repeat this process 2 more times.  Once you’ve repeated this process, drain the kumquats and puree them in a food processor.

In a medium saucepan combine 2 cups of water with sugar and ginger.  Continue to stir until the sugar water is boiling.  Once it boils, take out the ginger and pour the sugar water mixture into a bowl, add in the kumquat puree and orange juice.  Place that bowl into a large one, which has ice and cold water in it.  Keep the liquid in the ice bath for at least 30 minutes, or until the mixture is cold.

Then pass the mixture through a sieve, making sure to squeeze out as much juice out of the pulp as you can.  Chill this mixture for about 20 minutes in the freezer.  Then once it’s cold, follow your ice cream maker instructions to prepare the sorbet.  The sorbet will be done once it’s frozen and has a milky orange-yellow color.  Scoop the sorbet into a freezer-proof container, and freeze for a couple of hours before serving.