Almond cake traditional sweet from Kythera

A traditional sweet from the island of Kythera. A very nice moist almond cake.

Ingredients

• 7 Eggs
• 250 g. fine semolina (or mixed)
• 1 liter of milk
• 350 g. ground almonds (fine grinded)
• 500 g. sugar
• 800 g. vanilla (submarine) the white paste spoon sweet that's dunked in water
• 1 Lemon
• 3 drops of bitter almond essence
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Separate the eggs into yolks and whites. Add 250g of sugar to the yolks and beat them in the mixer.
2. Then add the semolina and add the milk little by little. (Be careful, the milk must be hot so that it does not curdle the mixture.)
3. Continue beating until the mixture has a creamy texture.
4. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and let it boil over medium heat until it thickens. Stir constantly so that the mixture does not clump. When it is ready, let it cool.
5. In the meantime, make the meringue.
6. Take the egg whites and beat them in the mixer (on high speed) with the remaining sugar [250g].
7. In the cooled cream, add vanilla powder, drops of bitter almond aroma and zest of a lemon. Add 350 gr. of grated almond.
8. Mix well. Then add the meringue. Be careful though because if you mix it too much it may deflate. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees for 45 minutes.
9. Put the vanilla essence in a saucepan and stir well until it melts and becomes like syrup. It can also be done in a bain-marie.
10. Do not melt the vanilla too much so that it does not become syrup and the dessert soaks it in.
11. Spread quickly – quickly on the mill paste so that it does not cool. The vanilla gives a sweet taste. So the dessert needs a very thin coating so it doesn't get too sweet. We leave it in the fridge for a while for the vanilla to cool (to become like icing) and it's ready.