Check out this king's cake recipe (torta del re recipe) for the Passover / Pesach festival, one of several traditional dessert recipes for a number of Jewish communities in Italy.

"Torta del Re" means "King's Cake" in Italian. The origin of this recipe is said to be from a woman whose chef was a close friend of the King of Italy's chef. A King's Cake recipe for the Passover / Pesach festival is popular among Italian-Jews. There are variations of King's Cake recipes, and the following King's Cake recipe for the Passover / Pesach festival is but one of them.

King's Cake Recipe - Torta del Re Recipe (from Italy)

5 large eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups sugar
10 ounces (2 1/2 cups or 295.73 milliliters) blanched almonds, ground very fine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
Grated rind of one lemon
Sliced, toasted almonds for garnish

Instructions for the King's Cake recipe - Torta del Re recipe:

  1. Line bottom of a 10-inch (25.4 centimeter) cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with margarine, or grease a 10-inch (25.4 centimeter) springform pan.
  2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (160 degrees Celsius or Centigrade).
  3. Whisk together yolks, sugar, extracts and lemon rind in a large bowl. The mixture is very thick and hard to mix. Whisk until pale.
  4. Stir in the ground almonds.
  5. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form; either a mixer or a whisk may be used. (Don't make too stiff.)
  6. Stir in about one-third of the egg whites to lighten, then fold in the rest of the egg whites.
  7. Pour into the pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until firm. The top will be light brown.
  8. Let cool completely.
  9. Cut around the edges with a sharp knife.
  10. Carefully invert and remove the parchment.
  11. Reinvert onto a serving plate and sprinkle with toasted almonds. (Almonds were sprinkled on before baking, and this turned out to be fine.)

Serves 12-14.


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