Almond Cake

At Christmas I made the best-ever stollen, and had a whole lot of marzipan left over that have been storing in the freezer. Recently I searched for the perfect way to use the marzipan, and found a lot of sites where people raved about this Almond Cake recipe from Amanda Hesser’s book Cooking for Mr. Latte. I used the recipe from this site, and I can see why so many people raved about it. The cake is quite moist, has an amazing sweet almond flavour.

To make this cake you will need to plan ahead by giving refrigerated items time to come to room temperature.

The recipe calls for a springform pan, but you could try using a loaf pan. When using a springform pan the cake sinks in the middle, and that might not happen in a loaf pan – please let me know if you do experiment with it!

This cake keeps well for a week or so unrefrigerated. I froze half of it and pulled it out a week later when I needed it.

What you need:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups all purpose flour, sifted and then measured
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
• 7 ounces almond paste, cut into pieces (I used marzipan)
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• optional: icing sugar for sprinkling over the cake before serving.

What you do:

1. Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and butter it. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2.  Mix the sour cream and baking soda together in a small bowl.
3. Sift the flour and salt.
4. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the almond paste little by little, then beat for 8 minutes.
5. Beat the egg yolks in one at a time, then beat in the almond extract and sour cream mixture.
6. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour and salt, beating just until combined.
7. Pour the batter into the springform pan and use a spatula to even out the top.
8. Bake immediately for about an hour; it will be done when you press the top lightly and it returns to its original shape. I rotated my pan carefully half way through baking so it would bake evenly.
9. After removing the cake from the oven, allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.
10. To serve, remove the ring from the springform pan, and if you wish you can sift a little icing sugar over the top.