Orange Almond Cake

I’ve mentioned this cake before, when I made Dorie’s Swedish Visiting Cake back in April. This cake is very similar to that cake, which you can see by the nearly identical photos. I thought that I had made this cake before to post here, but I realized I hadn’t. I knew that I would need to make it to post since it is such a good (and simple) cake.

I recently got together with a bunch of friends from high school. One of my good friends offered to host at her house, and they asked me to bring dessert. I asked what sort of dessert I should bring, and I since I had just recently made the Swedish Visiting Cake, she suggested that cake. Since the menu that night was tacos and salsa, I figured that this cake would fit right in. This cake uses orange zest rather than the lemon zest that the Swedish Visiting Cake uses.

In the cookbook where I found this recipe, it’s given the alternate title of Torta de Almendra. I’m not sure how authentically ethnic this recipe is, since it is from Betty Crocker’s International Cookbook from 1980. I’d imagine it isn’t authentic at all, but that’s ok since it’s so good. It’s very simple to put together, about as easy as a cake mix since you put everything in the mixer and mix. If you don’t have orange liqueur, you could also use orange juice. It was a big hit at the party, but we were honestly to busy catching up with one another and we didn’t eat too much dessert.

1-1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup milk
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg
2 teaspoons orange zest
¼ cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons orange liqueur

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch round pan. Set aside.

Beat all ingredients except almonds, 1 tablespoon sugar and orange liqueur in a large mixer bowl on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 3 minutes. Pour batter into pan and sprinkle with almonds.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Immediately sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon sugar and drizzle with the liqueur. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely before serving.

Recipe from Betty Crocker’s International Cookbook (1980)