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Torta Margherita
Potato starch sponge cake
A plain, cloud-light potato-starch sponge from Pavia, dusted with icing sugar
Torta Margherita has been baked around Pavia in Lombardy for centuries and is still the plain, yellow cake Italian grandmothers make for a child's birthday merenda or a Sunday breakfast. Potato starch gives it a fine, melting crumb, and a thick snowfall of icing sugar is all it needs, though children like it split and spread with jam. It contains egg, milk and gluten. Chef's tip: cream the butter and sugar for a full five minutes until almost white; that air is what makes the cake rise.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
- 4 ½ oz unsalted buttersoft
- 5 ½ oz caster sugar
- 1 tsp lemon zestfinely grated
- 4 eggsat room temperature, separated
- 3 ½ oz potato starch
- 1 ¾ oz plain flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp icing sugarfor dusting
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 350°F (fan 300°F). Grease a 22 cm round tin and line the base with baking paper.
Step 2: Beat 4 ½ oz unsalted butter, 4 oz caster sugar and 1 tsp lemon zest with an electric mixer for 5 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks from 4 eggs one at a time.
5 minStep 3: Sift 3 ½ oz potato starch, 1 ¾ oz plain flour and 1 ½ tsp baking powder together over the bowl and fold in until smooth.
Step 4: Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, add the remaining 1 oz caster sugar and whisk until glossy. Fold them into the batter in three lots, gently, until no white streaks remain.
Step 5: Spread into the tin and bake for 35–40 minutes, until golden, the top springs back when pressed and a skewer comes out clean. Opening the oven before 30 minutes is the classic mistake: the delicate sponge collapses in the middle.
40 minStep 6: Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. When cold, dust thickly with 2 tbsp icing sugar through a sieve. Keep wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days.
10 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 290 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 37 g
- Fat
- 15 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does torta Margherita take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of unsalted butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of caster sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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