Torta de Laranja – Orange Roll

Chef Vania prepares dessert at Bellota

 

I admire a chef that can bake, because I admit that I am not a good baker. Baking is a science, where precise measuring and timing is needed. I don’t have the patience for that, so I usually cook relying on my instincts and taste buds.

When I bake I usually go with my 4 basic desserts; Coffee Cake, Pao de Lo, Torta, and Brownies. That’s it! So, this is the reason that I only look for dessert recipes requiring very few ingredients and little measuring!

Portuguese Pastry Chef,  Vania Soares creates some sweet “Portuguese” desserts such as the trio of Pasteis,  Natas do ceu , and Sonhos de chocolate, among other treats as the Pastry Chef at 42 and Bellota at The Ritz Calton in Westchester NY.

When I asked her for an easy recipe for a Portuguese dessert, she gave this one for her Torta de Laranja. This looks amazing and it only requires 4 ingredients, has no oil or butter in the recipe.

Chef Vania, graduated from the “Escola Profissional de Leiria” a renowned cooking school in Portugal. She later worked at the Madeira (hotel CS) and at the Sheraton Hotel in Porto before coming to America four years ago.

She told me she loves living in America but she misses her family and friends back in Portugal. Congratulations to Chef Vania for her accomplishments both in Portugal and in the USA and we wish her much success!

You can see more amazing photos as some of these featured here with Vania preparing her sweet creations by visiting the Facebook page of Henrigue Mano – Journalist for the Luso Americano newspaper.

 

Chef Vania and Executive Chef Anthony Goncalves of 42 and Bellota

Torta de laranja Recipe: