A good friend of mine recently had a birthday, and joined "Club 50!" In honour of this auspicious occasion I decided to try something a little different. In a recent edition of Good Taste Magazine (The Italy Edition) there was a recipe for a Torta Caprese al Limone. It looked fabulous - however when push came to shove I didn't think I was going to be able to produce this cake in the limited amount of time that I had to make it in!
I searched through cookbooks to try and find something similar that I could produce in the given time (it was almost like a MasterChef time challenge really!!) I found 3 different recipes - all slightly different from each other. Mmmm what was I to do??? What any aspiring cook would do - combine all the elements that I liked into one cake, that I could produce in the time frame given!!!
Here is my take.
Torta Caprese al Limone
250g white chocolate, broken into pieces
250g almonds
250g sugar
rind from 2 lemons (yellow part only)
150g butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
Lightly grease, and line base of a springform pan with baking paper.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees (non fan).
Place the chocolate into the TM bowl and grate for 6 seconds on speed 8. Set aside.
Place the almonds in the TM bowl and mill for 4 seconds on speed 6. Add to the chocolate.
Place the sugar and lemon peel in the TM bowl and mill for 20 seconds on speed 9.
Add the butter, eggs, vanilla, and baking powder to the bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 7.
Add the chocolate and almond mixture and mix for 30 seconds on speed 6.
Put mixture into the prepared cake pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer when inserted in the middle comes out clean (it is ok to have a little bit of moisture on the skewer - this means the cake won't be too dry!)
Well I made the time challenge (almost!!) - I had to dash out, and wasn't 100% convinced the cake was cooked - so I turned the oven off and left the oven door ajar. Did it turn out OK?
As they say - the proof of the pudding is in the eating!!!
This cake was delicious - and will definitely be on my "make again list" - in fact Mr. CCC has a birthday coming up and I just may make this one again for him (if he behaves himself that is!!)
So Dear Readers tell me - do you often experiment and combine several recipes to make a new one - and are you successful?
Just as a post script - and for those that are following - Buster has made incredible inroads - yesterday I managed to get him to walk 2 metres (6 feet) or more!!!!! Mind you I was holding one of his favourite treats in front of his nose - but how else do you do it??? I may need to seek employment in dog rehabilitation after this!!!!!
I searched through cookbooks to try and find something similar that I could produce in the given time (it was almost like a MasterChef time challenge really!!) I found 3 different recipes - all slightly different from each other. Mmmm what was I to do??? What any aspiring cook would do - combine all the elements that I liked into one cake, that I could produce in the time frame given!!!
Here is my take.
Torta Caprese al Limone
250g white chocolate, broken into pieces
250g almonds
250g sugar
rind from 2 lemons (yellow part only)
150g butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
Lightly grease, and line base of a springform pan with baking paper.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees (non fan).
Place the chocolate into the TM bowl and grate for 6 seconds on speed 8. Set aside.
Place the almonds in the TM bowl and mill for 4 seconds on speed 6. Add to the chocolate.
Place the sugar and lemon peel in the TM bowl and mill for 20 seconds on speed 9.
Add the butter, eggs, vanilla, and baking powder to the bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 7.
Add the chocolate and almond mixture and mix for 30 seconds on speed 6.
Put mixture into the prepared cake pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer when inserted in the middle comes out clean (it is ok to have a little bit of moisture on the skewer - this means the cake won't be too dry!)
Well I made the time challenge (almost!!) - I had to dash out, and wasn't 100% convinced the cake was cooked - so I turned the oven off and left the oven door ajar. Did it turn out OK?
As they say - the proof of the pudding is in the eating!!!
This cake was delicious - and will definitely be on my "make again list" - in fact Mr. CCC has a birthday coming up and I just may make this one again for him (if he behaves himself that is!!)
So Dear Readers tell me - do you often experiment and combine several recipes to make a new one - and are you successful?
Just as a post script - and for those that are following - Buster has made incredible inroads - yesterday I managed to get him to walk 2 metres (6 feet) or more!!!!! Mind you I was holding one of his favourite treats in front of his nose - but how else do you do it??? I may need to seek employment in dog rehabilitation after this!!!!!
