Michelle Darmody: Baking with almonds

Recipes by Michelle Darmody this week are orange blossom and almond cake, almond macaroons and sunken prune tarts.

Almonds have a unique and strong flavour that add richness and depth to baking.

They also contain quite a lot of oil which works in various ways, it allows almonds to add moisture to a cake but it also means that the cake may burn quicker if you do not keep an eye on it.