Introduction: Torta Caprese Bianco (italian White Chocolate and Almond Cake)

my favourite cake!
A great italian cake made of almonds, white chocolate and lemon.
it is crumbly and moist at the same time and will stay good for some days in the fridge.

Step 1: Ingredients

you'll need

for the cake:
- 6 eggs
- 200 g white chocolate
- 3 lemons
- 50 g starch
- 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
- 180 g sugar
- 200 g butter
- 300 g of almonds blanched and chopped

for the glaze
- juice of one lemon
- 4 tablespoons of melted butter
- about 100 g of confectioners sugar

note: since there is no flour used in the cake, it is gluten-free (be sure to use potato- or cornstarch).

Step 2: Preparing the Batter, Part 1

put a piece of baking paper between the bottom part and the ring part of the springform tin and butter the sides.

with a grater, remove the zest from the lemons.

the butter has to be very soft but not melted - either leave it oustide of the fridge for 1 hour or so or put it in the microvave on defrosting! for 2 minutes.

put sugar, eggs and the zest in a bowl, and with a handheld mixer wisk for about 5 min until whitish and fluffy.
add the soft butter and wisk until incorporated. add starch and baking powder, whisk until incorporated.

Step 3: Finish the Batter

on a low flame in a pan with no oil roast the almonds until fragrant and slightly browned. stir often and be careful not to burn them - it takes some time until they start browning, but when they do the get black really fast.

chop the chocolate into small pieces.

add first the chocolate, then the roasted almonds to the batter and stir until incorporated. this is important: the still warm almonds will slightly melt the chopped chocolate.

pour into the prepared tin and put in the middle of the preheated oven.

bake for around 40 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted should come out clean.

note: you could also make this cake with dark chocolate (then you would have a torta caprese). but you would have to melt the chocolate before adding it to the batter.

Step 4: The Glaze

once the cake is finished, make the glaze:

wisk the juice of one lemon, 4 tablespoons of melted butter and the confectioners sugar together. i can't really say how much sugar you will need, just keep adding until the glaze is thick and white but still liquid enough to pour.

pour over the cake (still in the springform) and tilt the springform until the glaze is spread evenly.

optional: decorate the cake with lemon zest curls (removed with a zester).

let the glaze dry completely.

enjoy!