Tuesday Treat

Menu Mistress

‘La Torta della Anna’ Lemon & White Chocolate Cake

This is one of those special recipes that you don’t often come across…

When visiting Lecce with my Italian Class I had the pleasure of eating at ’63 Osteria Contemporanea’. The wonderful chef Anna originates from Puglia and serves her traditional family recipes with a contemporary edge. She served us some wonderful dishes including this beautifully light ‘Lemon and White Chocolate Cake’, not only was it absolutely delicious but it also happened to be gluten-free. I was completely smitten and begged her for the recipe! I couldn’t wait to return to my kitchen in the UK to try it – it’s fast become a family favourite. Thank you Anna for generously sharing this fantastic recipe!..

*There’s a lot of white chocolate to grate in this recipe so I find that it’s best to grind it in a processor!

200g ground almonds

180g white chocolate, grated (*see note above)

50g potato starch (‘ficole di patate’)

5g baking powder

Grated peel of 3 lemons

125g butter, melted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence

5 eggs, separated

180g caster sugar (separated 90/90g)

To serve, Icing sugar and extra grated lemon zest

*You will need a 23cm round cake tin, greased with butter, base lined with greaseproof paper.

  1. In a bowl mix together the ground almonds, grated white chocolate, potato starch, baking powder and grated lemon peel. Then mix in the melted butter and vanilla essence stirring well.
  2. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolks with 90g of the sugar, until thick, pale and creamy. Then fold into the ground almond mixture.
  3. In another bowl whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks then gradually whisk in the remaining 90g of sugar to form glossy stiff peaks.
  4. Finally, gently fold in the whisked egg whites to the cake mixture.
  5. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and place in the preheated oven, 180’c fan. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
  6. To serve, sprinkle over with icing sugar and extra grated lemon peel.
Unknown's avatar

Published by Menu Mistress

Cooking has always been something I've enjoyed, I have an extensive collection of cookbooks, some are well thumbed whilst others collect dust on the shelves; I can’t bear to get rid of any cook book, just in case one day I might use it for that one obscure recipe - light on a rainy day! I enjoy eating out and discovering new flavours, whether it’s just a local haunt or a ‘dress up’ to dinner restaurant - food is my hobby! In my opinion food is the one of the most important pieces of knowledge you need to know about any culture in order to really understand it, so when we go away, it’s not the local sights that I’m googling but the best place to eat! I'm not one of those fortunate cooks who can throw something together by looking at the contents of their fridge, I need a plan to work with, then I organise my fridge around the recipe. I am however a very organised person, you might even call me a control freak! I love the orderly fashion of a recipe, I find it soothing to have a plan in front of me, so the thought of trawling through my recipe books and trying new recipes is my idea of a perfect afternoon. But I realise that this is not everyones idea of fun, hence the birth of this blog. This blog is essentially for people who adore food but don’t have the time, patience or energy to search through cook books to find that winning recipe – that’s the job of Menu Mistress!

Leave a comment