just tea and sympathy... and a Moroccan cake

My friend Lena and I had been planning for a long time that one weekend we would cook together something delicious. Everytime we started to talk about what we would make, the plans became more and more ambitious, eventually to the point where we would have needed one whole day to prepare everything, and as busy people we couldn't find a common time for all this. Finally, we had to admit that we were never going to spend any time together if we don't return to square one and cut back on our epic plans. So, last Friday we ended up simply drinking tea at my place...

...Of course I had to create something. And that something appeared as a simple but oh so delicious Moroccan almond cake. It is flourless and therefore moist from the inside. If you enjoy almonds and the texture of a flourless chocolate cake, you will love this one.






Maroccan almond cake

1 organic lemon
3 egg whites
3 egg yolks
100 g sugar
100g peeled, ground almonds (mantelijauhetta)
hint of cinnamon (less than half teaspoon)
powder sugar for dusting


Preheat oven to 150 °c and grease a 20 cm springform. Grate the zest of the lemon and squeeze 1 tablespoon juice from it.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and mix in the lemon juice.
Beat the egg yolks and sugar into a foamy mixture. Stir in the almond powder, lemon zest and cinnamon. Add half of the egg yolk foam and stir in normally. Fold in the other half carefully.
Pour the mixture into the springform and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Let it cool completely before serving and dust with powder sugar.

Don't be scared when the cake loses a bit of it's volume after it comes out of the oven - it is supposed to sink slightly.