Almond Cake
The holidays are undeniably hurtling toward us.
Lest I sound a complete grouch, it is not the holidays themselves I loathe. What infuriates is the pressure to attain impossible heights of domestic perfection, courtesy of catalogs, magazines, and blogs. All push perfect parties, exquisite gifts, and a flawless home. All are possible only by spending heaps of money.
Heaven help you if yours isn’t a white, 2.5 child family with a yellow Lab puppy (why always a puppy? why always a yellow Lab? why never a kitten?). Not hosting hip impromptu holiday parties or a family Christmas with dozens of relatives? Are there only two you? Welcome to the afterthought of food magazines, the “couple” feature. You know, the article after how to feed the vegetarians. They get hollowed-out pumpkin. We get cornish game hens.
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So as various media outlets flood us with recipes for the marauding hordes, the IK would like to offer a modest selection of holiday treats. Do you really need another recipe for turkey? Even if you do, at this time of year you can probably find one on the back of your cereal box. Instead, let’s consider a few special items that celebrate the season without bankrupting us or assuming we’re feeding the Vienna Boy’s Choir.
Everyone needs a cake. One that isn’t overly sweet, overly complex or–since we’re being honest–a fruitcake. Friends, I bring you this almond cake. Not only does it tantalizingly scent your home while baking, it’s lovely fancied up with whipped cream or seasonal fruits or just left to itself. Not only that, it’s a good keeper, improving over time. Meaning whether it’s only two of you or there truly are marauding hordes, this cake is a winner. Still not convinced? John, who is no kind of sweet eater, said it’s the best thing I’ve ever baked.
This recipe comes from Amanda Hesser’s Cooking For Mr. Latte, a charming courtship with recipes. Hesser got it from her late mother-in-law, Elizabeth, who served it the first time they met.
Almond Cake:
from Amanda Hesser’s Cooking For Mr. Latte
yield: one 9-inch cake
You will need a 9-inch springform pan and a stand mixer for this recipe.
All ingredients need to be at room temperature before baking.
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for buttering the pan
(preferably a high-fat European-style butter like Kerrygold or Plugra)
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted, measured after sifting
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
7 ounce tube almond paste, cut into pieces
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon almond extract
confectioner’s sugar, for the top
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Line the bottom and sides with baking paper and butter them, too. Hesser writes you may skip the baking paper provided you lavishly butter the pan. I compromised by buttering the pan heavily and laying a circle of buttered baking paper on the pan’s bottom.
Mix the sour cream and baking soda. Hesser suggests doing this in a small bowl. I spooned the sour cream into a Pyrex measuring cup, then added the baking soda to the cup.
Now sift 2 cups of flour. I place a strainer over a glass measuring cup, pour flour into the strainer, and shake gently. Using a larger measuring cup will spare you flying flour.
Add the salt to the flour. I used fine sea salt for this recipe.
Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
You might take the butter wrapping and swipe it around your springform pan.
With the mixer on medium speed, add the almond paste a bit at a time. Almond paste is pliable stuff: I broke the slices into even smaller bits, which I added to the mixing bowl.
The scent of almond paste compels sampling. Try not to eat it all up.
Once all the almond paste is added, beat for 8 minutes. This is a good time to clean up.
Now add the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Hesser says the batter will appear curdled and not to worry. Mine looked just fine, but if yours doesn’t, don’t worry.
Now add the sour cream and almond extract.
Reduce the mixer speed to low. Begin adding the flour. My mixing bowl is small, and I needed to add the flour in stages, turning off the mixer, spooning in some flour, then turning the mixer low speed, allowing it to just blend, scraping down the bowl, and repeating. Flour flew. Such is life.
Spread the batter gently into your well-buttered pan and slide into your oven. Bake for about one hour (now is the time to lick the paddle and/or bowl). Cake is done when it shrinks edges of pan and top springs back when touched.
Place on a rack, whereupon the cake’s center will sink. This is okay. Allow to cool completely before sifting confectioner’s sugar over.
Cake will keep in a tin, refrigerated or not, for up to two weeks.
May be served on the fanciest of holiday plates with a sterling fork, or inhaled off a paper napkin with nothing but happy gratitude.
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