- proof the yeast in slightly warmed milk (slightly warmer than your finger), mixed with sugar and flour, cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes until frothy
- heat up/simmer the juice of 2 oranges, then remove from heat and add the raisins and leave them in for 15 minutes to plump, then discard the juice (or drink it) and pat the raisins dry
- beat the eggs with the sugar until creamy and then add the softened (or melted) butter, mix again, then add the citrus fruit purée and mix until smooth
- add the vanilla extract, cognac, orange flower water and mahlepi (or almond extract)
- toss raisins with flour until well-coated and slowly add the sifted flour (mixed with the salt) to the wet mix, about ½ cup at a time and knead with dough hook several minutes
- place in an oiled/buttered bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours until almost doubled
- melt 1/2 tbsp butter and brush the inside of your sprinfgorm cake mould and sprinkle/coat the insides of the cake mold with 2 tbsp sugar
- remove dough from bowl and stir/flatten down once and place inside the cake mould, brush with ½ tbsp more melted butter on top, sprinkle with 2 tbsp sugar and then the whole roasted almonds (salted or not) and let rise again for 30-45 minutes
note : I used a metal spring-form cake mold, measuring 18 cm wide by 12 cm high, it was a bit too small because it rose a lot and I accidentally touched and poked and thus deflated/flattened the middle, so it fell slightly ! Try using a cake mould that is high (around twice the volume of the dough) so that when you put the dough inside to rise, you still have extra room, ideally fill it up only half-way maximum, let it rise 25% and then it’ll rise another 25% more when baked !
- preheat oven to 200°C
- bake for 30-35 minutes until done, let cool before removing from mold.
warning : if you are worried about the top surface browning too much (or burning), then gently drape/place a sheet of aluminum foil on top, but wait towards the end until a solid top crust has formed, so you don’t risk deflating it (like I did) !
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