Dessert: Swedish Meringue Cake with Strawberries and Orange Filling

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
6 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sliced blanched almonds, ground fine in an electric coffee or spice grinder

Instructions

Line the bottoms of 3 buttered 9- by 2-inch cake pans with rounds of wax paper, butter the paper, and dust the pans with flour, knocking out the excess. Into a bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, and the salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and 3/4 cup of the sugar until mixture is light and fluffy, add the egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and the milk in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating well after each addition, and divide the batter among the prepared pans, spreading and smoothing it.
In the cleaned bowl with cleaned beaters beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks, add the remaining 1 cup sugar, a little at a time, and beat the meringue until it just holds stiff peaks. Fold in the almonds gently but thoroughly. (Do not beat in the almonds.) Spread the meringue over the batter, smoothing it, and bake the layers in the middle of a preheated 350 °F. oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans on a rack. Run a knife around the edges, invert the layers onto rack, and discard the wax paper. The cake layers may be made 1 day in advance and kept wrapped in plastic wrap.