Portuguese Lemon & Vanilla Torta

This recipe for Torta (similar to a Jelly Roll) is easy to prepare and only takes 15 minutes to bake.

What’s great about this recipe is that you can change the fillings to any that you prefer such as; chocolate pudding, flavored jams, or fresh chopped fruits like strawberries, peaches, berries etc.

Lemon Vanilla Torte

 Ingredients:

5 room temp eggs separated

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking  powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp crated lemon rind

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 package instant Vanilla or Lemon pudding mix

1 1/2 cups milk

3/4 cups sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease (Pam spray or margarine) and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Combine flour, salt, baking powder in a bowl.

In a large bowl beat egg yolks with 1/4 cup of sugar until lemony. Add flour mix, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix well for about 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the 1/2 cup sugar gently into the whites until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold the egg whites into the eggs with a rubber spatula. Pour into the sheet pan spreading evenly. Cook for about 15 minutes or less depending on your oven. The cake should be golden light brown in color.

Prepare the pudding by mixing the contents of the package with only 1 1/2 cups of milk (not 2 cups as package directs).

Mix for 2 minutes, then place in fridge to thicken.

Place a clean linen white kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle generously with granulated sugar. Slowly flip the cake pan onto the towel with the sugar.

Peel the parchment paper off the cake, then roll up the cake with the dish towel and let it sit for 5 minutes for the cake to cool.

Unwrap the rolled up cake let sit for a few minutes and spread the pudding (or any filling you prefer) evenly over the cake.

Gently roll up the cake without the towel leaving the edge on the bottom.

Sprinkle more sugar on top of the Torta to serve. Enjoy!