Torta Colombina – Almond Crusted Orange Cake

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Almonds, Clandestine Cake Club, Orange

Today sees the publication of the beautiful Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook, and I am thrilled to say that on page 116 it contains one of my recipes.

Torta Colombina, as I have called it, is an intensely orange-flavoured cake, with a topping of almonds and sugar that is crunchy on top and slightly squidgy underneath. It was inspired by the Italian Easter bread, Colomba Pasquale, which is similar to panettone, but baked in the shape of a dove. The real thing uses a brioche-like dough, and whilst it is certainly worth the 18 or more hours it takes to make, I wanted to devise something that evoked some of its flavours and textures but was quicker and easier to make.

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I also made… all sorts of things

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Almond, baps, bourbon biscuits, breton, brioche, Cardamom, Ciabatta, cinnamon buns, coconut, custard creams, easy almond cake, elderflower, epi, focaccia, frangipane, genovesi, gingerbread, jammy dodgers, melting moments, milk loaf, pear, Pistachio, plaited loaf, rolls, salted caramel, shaped rolls, shortbread, SIcilian Bread, soda bread, tarts, tiger bread, tosca cake

Life has been pretty hectic recently and it looks set to remain so for at least another month. As a result, I haven’t found much time to blog. So I thought I would publish a gallery of things that I have baked but haven’t got around to blogging about yet, as a taster of what is to come on Signor Biscotti.

To view the gallery, click on any of the images below.

Make Fondant Fancies…? Are You Mad?!?

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GBBO, Great British Bake Off

In the Final of this year’s Great British Bake Off, the Technical Challenge was to make Fondant Fancies. None of the contestants did very well, and while viewers may have been surprised by that, they were almost certainly taken aback by the frankness with which Mary Berry, who is normally so supportive, expressed her disappointment at the bakers’ efforts. But I knew exactly what they were going through, for I have made Fondant Fancies myself, and it was not by any means my happiest baking experience.

I Also Made… Classic French Madeleines

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Madeleine, Vanilla

These madeleines, flavoured with vanilla, can be made using the same method as the Rose Madeleines that I posted about earlier today.

Rose Madeleines

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Madeleine, Nigella Lawson, Rose, Rosewater, Tea Time Treats

I have always loved Madeleines, and once, in a fit of excitement, I bought myself a tray to make them in. I’m embarrassed to admit that that may have been as much as fifteen years ago, and in all that time the tray sat unused in the cupboard, silently reproaching me every time I moved it out of the way to find a tin for a less challenging recipe (challenging in my eyes that is).