Sand Torte (Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed., pg. 30).
For this month's Cake Slicers group, I chose the Sand Torte since I have already made the other cakes on the list. Essentially, this is very similar to a pound cake. It is very dense with a "sandy" texture. Despite baking it for only 35 minutes (the actual recipes call for 45 to 55 minutes), mine came out slightly dry. The hint of lemon is very subtle and nice. It would be good served with fruit, ice cream or whipped cream.
I have made some of Maida's other pound cake recipes that I thought were better than this one. It was easy to make. I suppose because my cake turned out a bit dry, it was already manageable when it came out of the pan. I went ahead and followed the directions and refrigerated it anyway.
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
2 TBS lemon juice
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup unsifted cornstarch
1 3/4 tsps baking powder
8 oz. (2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
6 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp salt
Optional: Confectioners sugar (for dusting the cake)
Preheat oven to 350. Butter or spray a tube pan.
Mix the lemon zest and juice and set aside.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch and baking powder and set aside.
Beat the butter until soft. Add 3/4 of the sugar, reserving 1/4. Beat for 2-3 minutes. Add the egg yolks (all at once is okay) and beat at high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl as necessary.
On low speed, add half of the flour mixture and beat only to mix.
Remove the bowl from the mixer stand, stir in the lemon juice. Add the remaining sifted dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth.
In a large, clean mixer bowl, add the egg whites and salt. Beat until they hold a soft shape. Reduce the speed and add the reserved 1/4 cup of sugar slowly. Increase the speed and beat until the whites hold a dfinite shape but are not stiff and dry.
Add the egg white mixture to the yolk mixture a little at a time and fold them in.
Turn the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake from 35-45 minutes (timing will vary with different pans) until the top is richly colored and springs back when lightly touched. Do not overbake.
Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before turning it out. Refrigerate (wrap in plastic until it is firm enough to handle). Top with powdered sugar if desired.
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