ERIKA ALLISTON : Sweet Pea – food blog

Almond Cake

ALMOND CAKE {GATEAU AUX AMANDES}: I think my pantry has been learning old tricks from the washing machine – you put two socks in and only one comes out…. you place a packet of almonds in the pantry and they vanish – coincidence I THINK NOT!

To avoid ’the hunt of humiliation’ the only logical solution was to get their 1st – buy the almonds and use them right away. Which in my case in not difficult as I am a big fan of this nut.

The original recipe for this cake comes from Thomas Keller’s cookbook ’Bouchon’, and uses almond paste and amaretto. I first tried this recipe using 2 substitutions : almond essence & ’masse d’amande’ – a very thick French almond butter made with ground almonds, soya beans and sugar.

My cake turned out wonderfully moist & flavourful – which got me to thinking. If others wanted the same results & didn’t have access to this almond paste, it would be useful to know how to make it from scratch. Thus I have created a homemade recipe, which makes a little extra almond paste that you can keep in the fridge and use as a spread on toast – delicious dear diary!

See link ‘Almond cake‘ below for the recipe:

ALMOND CAKE RECIPE – ERIKA ALLISTON Sweet Pea Blog

• 200g (7oz) almond paste*** (see my recipe below) or use ‘masse d’amande’
• 55g (1/4 cup) white sugar
• 110g (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon almond essence
• 45g (1/3 cup) white flour
• pinch of salt
• 40g sliced sweet almonds for decoration
• icing sugar for dusting the cake

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F
2. Grease & flour an 24 cm (11 inch) round baking pan.
3. Cut butter  into small pieces and let come to room temperature.
4. Combine the almond paste and sugar - beat for 2 minutes.
5. Now add the softened butter and mix for an additional good 5 minutes.
6. Next add the honey, then the eggs ONE BY ONE, and finally the almond essence, mix well.
7. In a separate bowl combine the flour &  salt. Gradually add to the almond mixture. DO NOT OVER MIX at this point.
8. Bake in the oven for approx. 25 minutes or until the top is a nice golden brown and a tooth pick come out clean when you poke the cake.

TOASTED ALMOND DECORATION : while the cake is in the oven, using a large non-stick frying pan, gently toast / brown the sliced almonds. Be CAREFUL not to BURN them!  Set aside to cool.

Remove the cake from the oven, let sit to cool for at least 5 minutes. Remove from the cake pan and set on a cooling rack. When the cake is cool place on a serving plate, sprinkle the top with the toasted almonds, and using a small sieve, dust the top with a thin layer of icing sugar.

*** Homemade ALMOND PASTE Recipe***

• 175g (1 generous cup) whole almonds
• 12 tablespoons slightly warm water
• 6 tablespoons oil (almond oil or vegetable oil)
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Put the water into the blender 1st, then the whole almonds and mix. Next gradually add the oil and finally the sugar. You will need a powerful blenderf to make this very thick smooth butter. My recipe makes approx. 330g of almond butter in total, of which you will need 200g for this recipe.

NOTES:

Do not store this cake in an air tight container! If air cannot circulate around the cake the almonds will go soft -  and we don’t want that!!! It is a fine line between not letting your cake dry out and letting it become too moist.