Saturday, Feb 2, 2013 Torta Nicciola at Istituto Italiano di Cultura Los Angeles

To celebrate a birthday for Saturday morning's Italian lesson, I made this Italian cake. It was delicious! Buonissima!!












Torta di Nicciola
(Hazel Nut/Almond Cake with Orange Glaze) (Adapted from Tastes of Italia 4/2011)


Cake:

4 eggs
½ C granulated sugar
1 C hazel nuts, toasted and ground into flour (or almonds, toasted)
½ C flour
1 t baking powder
2 T orange zest
1 T fresh orange juice
1 t vanilla
Frosting:

1 C powdered sugar
2 ½ T fresh orange juice (add only what is needed)
½ t almond extract
½ C chopped or slivered almonds, toasted


Preheat oven to 350 F

Butter a 10 inch spring form pan and dust with flour.

Beat egg whites with the orange juice and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together egg yolks and sugar until almost foamy. Add ground hazelnuts, flour, baking powder and orange zest. Gently fold in the egg whites.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack.


Make frosting: Combine ingredients and frost top of cake. Frosting should drizzle down sides of cake.

To toast Hazel nuts: Preheat oven to 350F. Place nuts in a single layer on a baking pan. Bake 10-15 minutes or until skins are blistered. Remove from oven and immediately wrap the nuts in a wet kitchen towel. Let steam for 1 minute. Rub nuts in the towel to remove loose skins. Don’t worry if not all skins come off. Discard skin debris. Cool nuts and chop until like flour.