Two Sisters - My mum and My Auntie... met me and my kids in the Blue Mountains, Australia.
My Mum (in the black) and My Auntie Liz
Gorgeous Gum Trees Scribbling - a taste of Australia
We visited the tea rooms at the Megalong Valley, and this gum tree was close to where we ate. I love Australia. Sob, sob.
Even more delicious - two beautiful children
And then the two sisters got to cooking! A most delicious gluten free almond cake. And so I took a few photos...
A little sprinkle of icing sugar
Some flowers from the garden add a splash of color
A little pot of tea is always a must in Australia!
A slice of heaven
Citrus Almond Syrup Cake
adapted from a recipe in Family Circle - number 54, not sure of what! Sorry
My comments in italics, the original recipe in normal font
Ingredients
Cake
2 small oranges
1 1/2 cups (240g) almond kernels
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Lime Syrup
1/4 cup (110g) caster sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) lime juice
1/4 cup (60ml) water
Directions
Grease deep 20cm-round cake pan, line base with baking paper. Place whole orange in medium saucepan; cover oranges with hot water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, simmer, covered, about 2 hours or until oranges are tender. Replenish water with boiling water as evaporates. Drain oranges, cook; discard water. (My Auntie was in charge of this step... I woke up to the scent of oranges cooking in our shared kitchen... it was oh so delicious!)
Preheat oven to moderately low.
Blend or process almonds and sugar until almonds are chopped coarsely; transfer mixture to medium bowl.
Quarter whole oranges discard seeds; blend or process until smooth With motor operating, add eggs one at a time, process until combined. Add almond mixture, baking power and essence; process until just combined.
Spread mixture into prepared pan; bake in moderately slow oven about 1 hour. (Auntie Liz and Mum kept checking... I think the cake actually took about 1.5 hours to bake until they were satisfied)
Pour hot Lime Syrup over hot cake in pan.
Stand cake in pan for 30 minutes.
Turn cake onto wire rack over tay. Serve warm or cold with caramelized orange and lime rind, if desired. (I highly recommend it! If you want to know how to caramelize orange and lime rind, leave a comment. This was my job and took about 1 hour on google to figure out how to do it... I think I finally succeeded, don't you, Mum and Auntie Liz??)
Lime Syrup: Combine ingredients in small saucepan, stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Simmer uncovered, without stirring, about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. (We waited about 20 minutes with sighs and deliberations about how thick is thick. It was an all consuming conversation regarding the lime syrup, but worth the deliberations!)
Then eat it. Yum!
I love my Auntie Liz!
Love your blog and you. Auntie. Liz
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