Festive Almond Torte

festive almond torte

extra icing (confectioners) sugar for the garnish

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).

Prepare two 20cm (8 inch) round cake tins. Grease them well and line with parchment or baking paper. Set aside.

Cream your butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the almond essence, then the eggs, one at a time. Make sure it is well combined.

Sift the flours and salt together and gradually fold into the butter mixture. Fold in the almond meal.

Divide the cake batter between the two cake tins and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto wire racks to cool.

To Make The Filling:

Whisk the cream and icing sugar together until firm peaks form.

Divide the mixture between two bowls.

In the first bowl, fold in the berries and orange liqueur.

In the second bowl, fold in the toasted, flaked almonds and almond liqueur.

To Assemble the Torte:

Slice the cakes in half horizontally. The two cakes halved will now make a single cake of 4 layers.

If you like, you can drizzle extra liqueur over the top side of each layer (depends on how much you want to put on and whether children will be eating the cake too).

Lay the bottom layer on your serving plate and spread with half the berry flavored cream. Lay another cake layer on top and spread with half the almond flavored cream, and so on until you have reached the top.

Garnish the top with more berries and a sprinkle of the remaining toasted almonds.

Dust over the whole cake with icing (confectioners) sugar.

Chill until serving time.