Sunday Flavors

ALMOND, EGGS AND GILA SQUASH MARMELADE CAKE

If we talk about Portuguese conventual sweets it is almost impossible to find a single recipe without eggs or almonds. But if we go down South of Portugal, to Alentejo or Algarve, we must add to eggs and almond another important ingredient: Gila squash marmelade. This very peculiar type of squash got its Portuguese name from Chila-caiota or chilacayote, due to the South-American name, and its name in English is fig-leaf gourd, due to the Latin name cucurbita ficifolia, which means squash with fig leaf.
Gila marmelade filaments, almost like sweet crystal noodles, create an amazing paste when involved with egg yolks and ground almond. Then you just need to add a few more ingredients of your own preference like I did in this recipe. If you really can’t find Gila marmelade (doce de Gila), feel free to replace it by another fruit marmelade of your choice, keeping the other listed ingredients.

YOU WILL NEED:
300 gr / 10 ½ oz of peeled almonds;
300 gr / 10 ½ Gila squash marmelade;
200 gr / 7 ¼ oz of sugar;
2 eggs;
10 egg yolks;
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour;
1 teaspoon of baking powder;
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon;
Scrapings of 1 orange;
1 pear, peeled;
Butter and flour to grease and dust cake pan;
Icing sugar and ground cinnamon to dust the cake;
Round cake pan with 30 cm / 12 inch diameter.

METHOD:

Soak almonds in boiled water for 5 to 10 minutes. Peal, dry and ground it.
Preheat your oven to 180º C / 350º F;
Grease the cake pan with vegetable spray or butter and dust it lightly with flour, tapping out any excess;
Beat together in a bowl eggs, egg yolks, sugar, grounded almond and Gila squash marmalade;
Add flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, orange scrapings and beat again;
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan;
Peal and deseed pear and slice it;
Place pear slices over the cake batter very gently;
Bake it immediately in preheated oven to 180ºC / 350ºF during 45 minutes – until is baked but not too dry;
Remove from oven and let it cool a bit before removing from the pan;
Dust with icing sugar and ground cinnamon and serve.