Spain- Majorca Almond Cake (Gato d'ametles)

A few weeks ago, my parents and some of there friends went to Majorca and one thing that they have been asking me to do was to make a traditional almond cake which they ate daily! So I did!!

A Little History:

The origin of the cake is uncertain but what I have found out is that the cake was made around the 18th century, the reason why almonds are used in this cake is probably because on the island of Majorca there are thousands of almond trees and there are hundreds of different types of almonds, so this is probably how the cake came about!

Ingredients:

• 250 grams of icing sugar
• 8 eggs
• Zest of one lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 250 grams of finely ground almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade .Separate the eggs into two separate bowls (ewww I hate separating eggs so much......), then add the icing sugar to the bowl with the egg yolks and beat until smooth.

2. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and cinnamon to the egg mixture, then add the almond mixture and stir until all combined.

3.Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff, whilst they are beating grease a loose bottom tin. Once the eggs are beaten add them to the almond mixture and combine with a metal spoon so you don't knock any air out. Put in the oven for 55-60 minutes (I went for 57).

Once cooked, leave to cool, then serve with a sprinkling of icing sugar and a dollop of ice cream!

Next will be my top ten list of cookbooks, I will be going on holiday soon so I will be a little behind on my blog but to make it up I will take pictures of local dishes and try and recreate them as well. As I am writing this, my blog has had over 1025 views, I am incredibly grateful and extremely moved by how people have responded, thank you so much!!!! X