October 31, 2008 - 9:38am
Almond Cake
I made an almond cake this week and it was very flat and heavy. It dropped completely in the middle. Tasted good though, with a chewy texture.
Quantities: 200g of each butter and sugar, 4 eggs, 150g sr flour, 100g ground almonds. A recipe from one of my cookery books.
I've searched on Google and came up with a variety of recipes, some with much less fat and sugar to dry ingredients,one with only eggyolks, 115G ground almondsand icing sugar, 85g plain flour, and some melted butter.
Would be grateful for good recipes for a light spongey almond cake from you baking experts.
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You can ofcourse leave out the cherries if you want,,,,,,,This is a cake that is made in our house every year for Christmas, and has been for the past 45 years, I would like to share it with you. I am sorry that it is in ounces, but perhaps you can convert, it is well worth the effort.
CHERRY ALMOND CAKE -- Christmas Cake
Set oven to 275 degrees F, convection or conventional. Line bottom of 8 inch spring form pan, and grease all well.
8 ozs flour
8 ozs butter, no substitute
8 ozs sugar
8 ozs ground almonds
3 eggs
4 ozs red glace cherries chopped
3 drops almond extract.
Cream butter, sugar and extract till pale, by hand add eggs one at time and beat in with wooden spoon, FOLD in flour, almonds and cherries. Bake 2 hours minimum, check with tester before removing from oven. When done, remove onto wire rack to cool, wrap well and store at least a week, do not refrigerate or freeze.
YIELD: 1 cake
We had friends visiting from Spain a few years ago and I made this almond torte. It was wonderful.
Torta de SantiagoThis delicious almond cake originates in the medieval pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, the northwest part of Spain.
Ingredients:
Preparation:1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp grated lemon rind
1/2 lb Marcona almonds, finely ground
7 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Chopped or ground almonds for garnish
Cream the sugar, lemon rind, and egg yolks until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in the almonds and cinnamon. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff, but not dry. Stir a few tablespoons of the egg white into the almond mixture, then fold in the rest of the egg whites.
Pour into 2 greased 8 inch layer pans and bake at 350 F for 45 minutes or until the cakes are well browned. Cool briefly, then remove the cakes from the pans.
To make topping, whip 1/2 pint of whipping cream, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon very strong brandy (optional) until stiff. Spread between the cake layers, then coat the top and sides of the cake. Garnish with chopped almonds.
An alternative is to use the filling inside, then sprinkle the top with powdered sugar after placing a 4" Cross of Santiago in the center. Just print out this page,cut out the cross to use as a stencil to achieve this effect. The end result is a brown cross on a field of powdered sugar.
Judy
Thanks for two very different recipes - I hope to try them soon.
qahtan - do you use SR flour or plain flour? I'm used to ounces too, so should manage.
Judy - it's interesting you mention Santiago de Compostella, as we used to live on one of the pilgrimage routes of St Jean de Compostella. We aren't far from the spanish border.
I find that if the almonds are fluffy, the cake will also be fluffy. I don't use ground almonds but grated ones.... I do it myself and here is my blog entry on it. It's about walnuts but a nut is a nut, right?
Mini O
Mini - I think one of the reasons for the heaviness of the cake was the oiliness of the (bought pre-packed) ground almonds. I have a small electric coffee grinder which I sometimes use for nuts. Do you think that would give a fluffier result.?Pat.
I think the recipe reads heavy. Try separating the eggs and whipping the whites stiff. I would add the yolks, one at a time with the mixer and when nice and fluffy fold in the egg whites while sprinkling in the flour.
Mini O