A delicious fresh Spanish sponge cake, spiked with an orange syrup, full of fresh citrus flavours, perfect with a glass of chilled Noble Late Harvest, at the end of a meal. This cake is one of the most popular dishes at Wickedfood Cooking School in our Spanish cooking class.

6 eggs separated

220g castor sugar

230g almonds

1T castor sugar

21/2 oranges, finely grated zest of

Syrup

8 oranges, juice of (or ± 2 cups orange juice)

11/2 lemons, juice of (or ± 2T lemon juice)

1 whole cinnamon stick

Castor sugar to taste

Crème fraîche

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line and grease a 23cm spring form tin on the bottom and sides with greaseproof paper. Separate the eggs.
  2. In a food processor grind the almonds and transfer to a bowl.
  3. Place the egg yolks and 220g castor sugar in the food processor and process until pale. Add the almonds and zest and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl.
  4. Beat the egg whites and remaining 1T sugar until stiff. Carefully fold into the sugar/egg yolk mixture (first fold 1 large spoonful of the beaten egg whites into the sugar/egg mixture to loosen it), and then, without knocking too much air out of the whites, carefully fold in the remaining whites, a tablespoon or two at a time (the sugar/egg yolk mixture will seem very stiff at first, but as the egg whites are folded in, it will loosen up).
  5. Carefully pour into the lined tin, place on the middle shelf of the oven, and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until the cake is golden on top and firm to the touch.

To make the syrup

  1. Place the orange juice, lemon juice and cinnamon stick in a saucepan, and add sugar to taste (the syrup should be quite tart). Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste and add more sugar if necessary. Allow to cool and place in the fridge.
  2. When the cake is ready, remove from the oven and cool completely on a rack before opening the spring form tin.
  3. Invert onto a plate, remove the greased paper lining, and with a skewer, pierce small holes in the top of the cake and pour half the syrup over the top. Serve with the rest of the syrup on the side.

Serves 6-8

Wickedfood Cooking School, Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.