I should be winding up all the birthday celebrations today, but before calling all the celebrations off until next time, we have one more. A bunch of us are going to Barcelona, the Wine and Tapas Bar in No Denver for one more party and one more celebration. Birthday Celebrations – Part 2 – Barcelona
I decided since we were going back to Barcelona, the Tapas Bar, that a dessert from my Barcelona Cookbook would be the perfect thing to make. I made my version of their Orange and Almond Cake, also known as the classica torta de Santiago,which originally comes from Galacia. Galacia is in the Northwestern part of Spain, North of Portugal. It faces the Atlantic Ocean. This cake is often used a cake to honor Saint James, the Patron Saint of Spain, whose remains are held in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
Orange and Almond Cake
This is a simple cake to make with basic ingredients. This is true for many European cakes. Simple is my favorite too.
1 cup sugar
7 eggs, separated
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 3/4 cup ground almond meal or flour
1/2 cup flour, optional
1 tsp orange extract
1.4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
5 apples, peeled and diced small
2 TBSP honey
whipped cream
Use 2 8-8 1/2 inch cakes pans. Spray them with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350* F.
Mix the sugar, orange zest, oil, applesauce and egg yolks together in a mixer with the whisk attachment for about 6 minutes. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites at a high speed until they become light and fluffy and form stiff peaks, or about 7 minutes.
When the egg yolk mixture is thoroughly mixed together, add the ground almonds and the orange extract and mix again. Then gently fold in the egg whites until everything is mixed together well. Evenly divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and spread the batter out. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
While the cakes are baking, make your apples. Peel them and slice them, then cut them into a small dice. Cook them in butter and/or honey butter, and add the additional honey. Cook the apples until they are tender, but not caramelized.
When the apples are tender, mash them with a potato masher, keeping some chunks. Let the apples cool a bit, then mix them with whipped cream. Spread the apple and whipped cream mixture on the top of one cake.
Add the other cake and top with more of the apple and whipped cream mixture. I had some plain whipped cream leftover and I spread it on the sides of the cake. I also added some chocolate orange bits onto the top of the cake as well as some of the chocolate shavings and some more orange zest. Keep the cake refrigerated until ready to eat.
I also want to share that even I have my mishaps. For some strange reason, my egg whites did not fluff up the way they were supposed to. I whipped them for longer than necessary, but they never formed into stiff peaks. I even added a little cream of tartar, and still no peaks. The cake still came out fine, but it did not rise up the way it was supposed to, and is a little flatter than it should be. Oh well, these things happen, even to me. The moral of the story is that these things happen. Don’t give up and don’t get frustrated. As my idol, Julia Child, once said, “never apologize if the recipe didn’t turn out the way you wanted it too”. Just enjoy it as is, and try to do better next time. 🙂 Let them eat cake.
looks amazing! hope you have a blessed trip.
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Thank you. I wish I was actually going to Barcelona, Spain, but not this time. That is the name of the restaurant we are going to. 🙂
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oops! I didn’t catch that, sorry! hey, I bet it is the second best thing?! 🙂
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Believe me, with all the snow we are having at the moment, Barcelona Spain would be great right about now. 🙂
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🙂 sounds amazing.
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So pretty, and with my favorite fruit: apples. I hope your birthday was all you hoped it would be.
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Thank you. I had a very happy birthday. Now, it is back to business as usual. No more birthday celebrations for awhile. 🙂
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Loving how your extending the celebrations. I’ve made a similar cake with the same name but mine was a much plainer version – no cream or apples.
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Both versions are very good. Try it with the apples and the cream too. Plus I decided I am going to add 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and a 1/4 cup of applesauce next time.
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Interesting! I’ll have to give it a go as my hubby loves anything with apples.
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It’s definitely a winner, or as we say a “do-over”. 🙂
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Never heard that term before
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I’ve been saying it all my life. Who knows where I picked it up from, but I think it was from my mom and my grandmother. I think it is a Southern phrase, but I am not sure.
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I have that cookbook too! I think your cake turned out beautifully.
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Thank you. Once again, great minds thinking alike. The cake was delicious, but a little dry, especially here in the high altitude, so next time I am going to add 1/4 vegetable oil and 1.4 applesauce as well. What is your favorite recipe in that book? They are all so good. 🙂
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I forget sometimes how much you have to adjust things for altitude. It has been a while since we have done tapas, but we pretty much celebrate all tapas.
My husband came home from the store the other day with a rabbit that I need to cook. The rabbit with porcini mushrooms from the Barcelona cookbook is one option I am considering. Also mulling a sweet and sour rabbit recipe from Jamie Oliver, just because it might be fun.
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Rabbit aside, I have been on a real Middle Eastern kick lately. I bought three new cookbooks that I am going to write about at some point. They all are heavy into the historical and cultural origins of dishes, which I absolutely love reading about (why I love your blog too). And everything in them is super healthy.
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YAY!!!!!! I can’t wait to read all about them. As you know, I am all about that. Sometimes I get in those kicks too. If you like those books, they might soon be added to my ever-growing collection too. thank you for the shout out and the love, as always. Enjoy!
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YUM! Rabbit is something I rarely cook. PLEASE, take pictures along the way, and submit them so I can feature you and your rabbit recipe(s) as a guest chef. that would be awesome!!!!!
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Hopefully it will turn out well!
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I have confidence in you. I KNOW it will. 🙂
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Exactly! Just let them eat the cake 😉🎂
Orange and almonds I think are such a great combination!
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I am right there with you. 🙂
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Your not-so-perfect outline made me chuckle.
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I am far from perfect. I make mistakes all the time. I just usually know how to cover them up. 🙂
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I am really enjoying the theme/design of your blog. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A number of my blog audience have complained about my blog not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Opera. Do you have any tips to help fix this problem?
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