SC - OOP: Recipe - Almond Butter Cake

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

I've had a request for the recipe that prompted me to inquire about 
almond paste, so here it is for the delight of all.  It's from _A Treasury of 
Jewish Holiday Baking_ by Marcy Goldman.  I borrowed a copy from the 
library, and am seriously thinking of buying a copy for myself.  The cake 
below and a challah recipe are the only ones I have tried so far, but 
there are many others that look delicious.  Ms. Goldman has a website 
at http://www.betterbaking.com/ which contains many recipes, some of 
them from this book.

Almond Butter Cake
makes 8 servings

4 oz. almond paste or marzipan, cut into slivers
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 TBS cornstarch (aka corn flour in Britain and elsewhere)
1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds

Topping/Amaretto Sugar Glaze
Confectioners' sugar (optional)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup amaretto or almond liqueur (note: or replace with additional 1/4 
cup water plus 1/2 tsp almond extract)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9x5 loaf pan or 9-inch springform pan.  
A 9-inch bundt pan or kugelhupf cake mold will also work.

Cream the almond paste with the sugar and butter.  As the almond 
paste breaks up, add the vanilla, eggs and milk.  Blend well and fold in 
the flour, salt, baking powder, and cornstarch to make a thick but fluffy 
batter.

Spoon the batter into the greased pan.  Sprinkle almonds on top.  If you 
are serving the cake bottom side up (ex., if you use a bundt pan), 
sprinkle the almonds on the bottom of the pan before adding the batter.

Bake 50-55 minutes.  The cake should be evenly golden brown and 
slightly cracked.  When cool, either sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, 
or poke holes in the top of the cake and drizzle on glaze.

Glaze: mix together water and sugar in a small saucepan and place on 
low heat until sugar is dissolved.  Stir in amaretto and hear 2-3 minutes 
more.  Cool slightly before using.

My notes: This comes out like a rich, almond-flavored pound cake.  I 
would not substitute margarine, as the butter is a major flavor factor in 
this cake.  You really do want to sliver the almond paste finely, so that 
it breaks up thoroughly when creaming.  I did this in the KitchenAid 
mixer and it came out very nicely.  I did not grease the (bundt) pan as 
generously as I should have, and had a little trouble getting the cake out 
of the pan, but was eventually able to coax it out in one piece.  Next 
time, I'll go for the simple loaf pan, but this was a holiday dinner, and I 
wanted pretty.  I made the amaretto glaze, but did not pour all of it on, 
as it still seemed watery, and I was afraid that the cake might get 
soggy.  I really don't think a topping is necessary, though the 
confectioners' sugar might be pretty.  Next time I would use sliced 
almonds instead of slivered.  Also, I think it makes more than 8 
servings.  There were eight of us at dinner on Saturday, and there were 
leftovers.

Brighid


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net
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