Cake of the Gods

On a down day, there's nothing like playing some loud music and doing some cooking.  Yesterday, to take my mind off things, I cranked up Cary Ann Hearst on the iPod and made this rich and scrumptious almond-saffron cake.  Eating a slice warm from the oven doesn't hurt either!

Can you see the bits of saffron?

the tastes that make it special

I clipped the recipe from the now-defunct Cottage Living magazine years ago, but you can find it on myrecipes.com where it was posted by its creator, Kim Sunee.  My daughter and I love this cake so much, we say it is what the gods would eat if they got hungry.  We are absolutely crazy for it but, strangely, my husband and son don't much care for it.  Maybe it's a girl thing.  Saffron, orange zest, almond, butter and sour cream.  I say, what's not to like?  The recipe suggests dusting with powdered sugar or even topping with an orange juice glaze.  I prefer it in its unadorned, straight-from-the-oven state.

batter before and after adding saffron-zest-milk mixture

the luscious, golden finished product