Almond cake with saffron ice cream and myrtle sauce

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 250 g almonds, whole, crushed in a blender with skin
• 2 lemons, untreated
• 5 eggs, separated
• 200 g sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tsp butter, for greasing the baking pan
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• 300 ml milk
• 150 ml cream
• 5 egg yolks
• 200 g sugar
• 2 bags of saffron, 2 of the small jars, in threads or ground
• 100 ml liqueur (myrtle), called Mirto
• 75 g sugar
• 1 sheet of gelatin

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours 5 minutes

Torta di Mandorla with Gelato al Zafferano and Sugo di Mirto

For the saffron ice cream, bring the milk and saffron to a boil and let it steep for another 10 minutes, almost boiling. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar over a warm plate until frothy. If you’re unsure, use a double boiler. Add the hot milk to the egg mixture and blanch, i.e. heat to 80 degrees Celsius, whisking continuously. Finally, place the pan in ice water and whisk until cold again. Then transfer to a bowl and place in the freezer, stirring every 30 minutes until the desired consistency is reached. The process is easier if you put the mixture in an ice cream maker, which does the rest. For the cake, cover the lemons with water and simmer for about 45 minutes. Halve them, remove the pips, blend them finely with the peel, and add them to the blended almonds. Whisk the egg yolks and half the sugar over a slightly warm plate until frothy and add to the almond and lemon mixture. Beat the egg whites with the other half of the sugar until stiff peaks form, mix with the baking powder and a pinch of salt, and fold into the mixture. Butter a springform pan, pour in the mixture, and bake at 175°C for 45 minutes. Once cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar. For the sauce, caramelize the sugar, reduce it with the myrtle until almost half the volume, and thicken it with the previously soaked, then well-squeezed gelatin. You may not want to use the whole sheet of gelatin so the sauce doesn’t become too thick. You’ll have to experiment. Almonds, saffron, and myrtle, the liqueur made from myrtle fruits, are typical Mediterranean ingredients, particularly popular on the island of Sardinia, for example. Serve one slice of almond cake with two regular scoops of ice cream or one larger one next to it, and pour a little sauce between them. If you’re lucky enough to get some myrtle fruits, don’t hesitate to add them as edible decorations.