PORTUGUESE ORANGE ROLL
(Portuguese gastronomy of the area of Lisbon: Torta de Laranja)

The Portuguese brought the sweet orange from China to Europe in the 15th century and introduced it later to other regions of the world. This is the reason why in some European and Mediterranean countries the orange is named after this seafaring country. Such is the case of portogallo in the Neapolitan dialect, of portokal in Greek, Bulgarian and Turkish, portokalli in Albanian, portocala in Romanian; and also in other languages as Georgian, Arabic, modern Persian and Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia). Oranges are widely grown in warm climates and a source of vitamins. I hope you’ll enjoy the Portuguese recipe I’m sharing here with you. It’s one of my favourite desserts, very easy to prepare and deliciously tasty!

© Dulce Rodrigues

Portuguese orange roll

Ingredients
. 8 eggs
. 1 lb (500 g) sugar
. 1-2 tablespoons of baking flour
. 3-4 oranges (juice of 3-4, grated peel of 2)
. 1 pinch of salt
. margarine and flour for the baking tray
. baking (parchment) paper
. for decoration: caster sugar, orange confit of crystallized fruits

Follow the advice
A small glass of "aguardente de medronho" is a drink alternative to tea when having this cake as dessert.

Preparation
1 - Break the eggs (whites and yolks) into a bowl, add the grated peel of 2 oranges and the juice of 4.
2 - Mix the sugar with the flour and add carefully to the egg and orange preparation, without beating too much, just enough for mixing up all the ingredients.
3 - Grease a rectangular baking tray (about 30 x 50 cm) and line it with baking (parchment) paper. Pour in the cake mixture and bake for about twenty minutes in a 325° F (180° C) oven.
4 - When ready and still warm, put the cake on a clean cloth and roll it (like a jelly roll).
5 - Once the rolled cake is cold, remove the cloth, sprinkle with caster sugar and decorate with thin slices of orange or any other decoration according to your fantasy.
6 - Keep in the refrigerator or the freezer. In the latter case, cut out the slices you need and let stand for 15-20 minutes before serving them.

Hint 1: If you have a microwave oven (27 lt) with "crisp" function, then use the crisp plate instead of a regular baking tray and cook with the crisp function for about 10-12 minutes. You will get a round-shaped cake: present it like a tart or roll it as explained above and have both edges cut for a better presentation.