Almond and Strawberry Cake

The Almond and Strawberry Cake is a delicious and springtime dessert that combines the sweetness of almonds with the freshness of strawberries. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 200 g almond flour
• 100 g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• Grated zest of 1 untreated lemon
• 80 g melted butter
• 200 g fresh strawberries
• Icing sugar (for dusting)
• A few whole almonds or slivered (for decoration)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
2. In a bowl, mix the almond flour with the caster sugar, baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
3. Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs. Add the yolks to the dry mixture and mix well until you get a homogeneous dough.
4. Grate the lemon zest and add it to the mixture along with the melted butter. Mix everything thoroughly.
5. In the meantime, in another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
6. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture, being careful not to deflate them.
7. Cut the strawberries in half or slices, keeping some whole for the final decoration.
8. Gently fold the strawberries into the batter, distributing them evenly.
9. Pour the batter into a cake tin lined with parchment paper, level it and decorate with whole strawberries and almond slivers.
10. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
11. Allow the cake to cool completely before dusting it with icing sugar.

Interesting Facts

Almond-based cakes are very popular in Italy, particularly in Sicily where almonds are a traditional ingredient. The addition of fresh strawberries makes this cake particularly suitable for spring and summer and to celebrate the abundance of seasonal fruit.