I will confess to you that I am not a huge fan of almonds. I went through a huge tamari almond phase in college and I simply ate myself out of them. Do you ever eat yourself out of a food? Unfortunately I have yet to eat myself out of peanut butter, bacon, or raw cookie dough, but I digress.
This is the story of The Little Torta That Could. Could talk me back into the fold of Almond Appreciation. I’ll tell you the story of this torta through pictures, since it is such an easy cake to prepare.
And not hard to love! See if you fall in love with almonds, and possibly this classic torta, too…
Are you convinced? I thought so. Best lay off the tamari almonds, just to be sure.
Torta De Cielo
13 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 c. almonds, toasted
1 c. white sugar, granulated
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 c. cake flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. almonds, blanched, slivered, toasted
1/4 c. confectioners’ sugar
cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350°.
Line a single 9″ cake round with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
Place whole almonds in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until the nuts are the consistency of a coarse meal. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light, fluffy, and almost doubled in size. Beat in eggs. Beat in extracts, salt and flour until just incorporated. Fold in almond meal. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 33-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake to cool.
Once the cake is cool, unmold, top with confectioners’ sugar and slivered almonds, and serve.
YIELD: 1- 9″ cake, approximately 6-8 servings
Made it twice in the last two weeks since we had relatives visiting.
It was delicious — like eating light marzipan!
Thanks for the recipe. I’ll have to give it a try
with chocolate although it’s hard to imagine it getting any better!
I’m so glad to hear this cake was a hit! I love serving it to company as well.
How I could miss this post. Almonds is one of my mother favorites, as well as mine. I think I can make this for my mother.
Hi Meagan – Just wanted you to know that I made a version of your cake and posted it to my blog this morning (with link back and credit, of course). Thanks for the inspiration!
Looks absolutely lovely, Anita! So glad you gave this cake a whirl!
Hi there,
This looks wonderful, and I was about to make it tonight for a special occasion, but… it has no leavening in it. Is that right? No baking powder or soda? Thanks!
Hi Sarah! Thanks for your comment. You are correct that I went with a more traditional adaptation of this classic Mexican convent cake and did not incorporate any chemical leavening agents. I don’t know if you can tell from the photographs, but the finished cake is quite dense (which does not detract from the flavor at all). If you are nervous about it, you could add 1 teaspoon of baking powder to the flour, but I really don’t think it’s necessary for this cake. Let me know how yours turns out!
Hi Meagan,
Thanks for your quick reply! I thought I’d update now that I’ve made the cake!
It was really, really delicious, and everyone really enjoyed it – kids and adults alike. I followed the original instructions and didn’t use any leavening agents… but I was low on butter so I substituted a little vegetable shortening in… and I added some chocolate chips too (which redistributed themselves along the bottom of the cake, but really, were still quite a delicious addition).
Thanks so much! Keeping this one!
So glad it worked out, Sarah! And everything’s better with the addition of chocolate chips, for sure!
Oh wow Meagan, this cake looks and sounds heavenly indeed! You take such lovely photos as well, I felt like I wanted to reach into the screen and cut myself a slice of that gorgeous cake.
This is indeed heavenly! Book marked it.
I have become fan of nut flours because I am gluten free and nut flours taste better if I combine with other flours.
I have always been a huge almond fan, so you certainly don’t need to talk me into this one. This looks DIVINE! What gorgeous photos!!
Hey, where’s your milk bar post this week? I look forward to those every Monday. I finally got my copy in the mail and am super excited to start baking from it!
I’m SO glad that you got the book, Maggie! You’re going to LURVE it. I had to take the week off, but will be back in full effect next time. Count on it!
OOOhhh, oooooh, oooh this looks so good! I adore almond cake – so tasteful, light & satisfying.
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.com/
The cake look wonderful.
Looks so deliciously nutty! I used to eat plenty of tamari almonds myself but have stopped and now only eat the natural ones. Thanks for sharing!
You had me at almonds. Beautiful cake.
Yes, I have eaten away the desire for certain foods. Taco Bell back in the college days comes to mind. Bleh! At one point I’d eaten my way into an aversion for Fritos, which I never really grew to love again. Those are good things to burn out on, I think.
I looove almonds, and this looks heavenly indeed!
Yes, I have definitely eaten myself out of foods – it’s a sad thing!
I love almonds. This cake looks wonderful.
Looks absolutely delicious! I love almonds:-) I’ve gotta try this! Amazing shots!
Oh yeah!!!! Bring on the almondy-joy. Love this cake.
That would be perfect with a nice cup of tea!
I don’t need to be talked into almonds. I already love them. I can say pretty confidently that I would love this cake too.
Yup, this is heavenly! So pretty!
This cake does look heavenly – it would not last two seconds in my house
Thank you!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Latest: Double Nutella Layered Cheesecake Brownie Bites
Holy moly. Heavenly is right. This looks to die for… I haven’t eaten myself out of liking almonds yet. I eat a little handful almost every day. Crap, let’s be honest. I love just about anything with calories that is edible.
Tee hee hee. You and I must have been separated at birth.
I love almost, everything that has almonds on it is just made for me. This cake of course will be my favorite.
I’m convinced! I’m convinced! This is so beautiful. I ate myself out of bananas when I was pregnant and halva as a student. I don’t think I could eat myself out of this almond cake. Ever.
Oh my, this cake looks amazing. I love almonds. I’m going to have to try this recipe. Your photos are beautiful.
This recipe’s for me! I love almond cakes and will be trying this one soon. I know what you mean about eating myself out of foods…but not the ones that have tons of calories, unfortunately
Meagan – You make it look so easy! I love the photos and how they lead up to a very yummy result that makes me want to get into the kitchen and put on my apron!
I just had a squeeing fit over the new font up there in the top corner bein’ all swirly and pretty-like. Yay for swirly and pretty!
I’m having a squeeing fit over learning the term ‘squeeing fit’ from you. Squ squ sqqquuuuueeeeeeeeeee!
I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to eat yourself out of almonds! I absolutely love almonds. This almond cake really does look heavenly, by the way. Sometimes you just need something nutty and clean, and not slathered in frosting.
Sometimes!
This cake looks and sounds amazing! I would love a large piece
! I don’t think I could ever tire of almonds, you must have eaten a lot!
Looking good! I’ve been known to get tired of squash soup and of tangerines.
This does indeed look utterly heavenly. I love almond in cakes – it makes them so wonderfully moist.
I’m a big fan of almonds and this looks so dreamy. Love it!
I eat myself out of foods all the time. I wish I could get over cookie dough right now!
Actually, I ate myself out of cookie dough in high school. My friends and I used to make batches of cookie dough, leave out the eggs, and just eat it with no intention of baking it. There is a breaking point for whipped fat and sugar it’s just that it has to be done in one sitting. Period.
And by one sitting, I mean picture the scene from Seven (with Brad Pitt) where they find the gluttonous man… that’s the kind of whipped fat and sugar consumption I undertook in high school.
I am really big fan of almonds that’s why I think recipe is just amazing! I would love to try it
This cake looks more than delicious! I will have to try baking it!
Lovely photos and story….I’m a fan of almonds, but I understand eating yourself out of a food!
I’m with you. I wish I could eat myself out of some foods!
I haven’t tried almond cake before, but looking at these ingredients makes me know I will like this. Yum!
Do you ever eat yourself out of a food? = YES! Usually it will come back into rotation in a year or so but there are certain things I just never have gone back to like this killer homemade granola I used to make…but I ate it, every day..for like…3 years. Lol
Your cake looks fabulous…I can’t eat myself out of butter or sugar