Cookbook Challenge # 10 - What’s For Dessert
After skipping last weekend because I had a back pain flare, I’m back to my cookbooks this week. This afternoon I baked the Crunchy Almond Cake from What’s For Dessert by Claire Saffitz (2022). It bills itself as featuring simple recipes, but I’d say its idea of simple is something like the AllTrails ranking of hike difficulty, where you embark upon what claims to be an easy hike and find yourself scrambling over boulders alongside a mini-ravine in an obscure North Georgia state park and wondering how long it’ll take anyone to find you if you fall and break your leg or worse, not that I’m speaking from very specific personal experience or anything. (Luckily the only thing that fell was my level of trust in the AllTrails app.)
With that said, I’m a far more experienced cook and baker than I am a hiker, so this cake was well within my competency level, but this is not the cookbook for a beginner. My chosen recipe rated as Very Easy, which is the lowest ranking in the book, but as you’ll see it’s fairly time-consuming and fiddly. It’s delicious, though, and would make an AMAZING based for strawberry shortcake or with a rich chocolate sauce. And I’m sure I’d find it quicker and simpler on a second or third attempt.
Crunchy Almond Cake
1 cup sliced unblanched almonds
Melted butter for the pan
¼ cup demerara sugar (I used turbinado, which isn’t quite the same but is what I could readily source)
¾ cup plus 2 T all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ tsp Morton kosher salt
7 oz almond paste
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature
¼ cup amaretto
2 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat the oven: Arrange an oven rack in the center position and preheat to 350 F.
Toast the almonds: Scatter the sliced almonds across a sheet pan in an even layer and toast until they’re golden and fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes, tossing halfway through. Set aside to cool. Leave the oven on.
Prepare the pan: Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan with melted butter, then line the bottom with a round of parchment paper and smooth it to eliminate any air bubbles. Butter the parchment.
Make the crunchy layer: Lightly sprinkle some of the demerara sugar across the bottom of the prepared pan, then scatter a handful of the toasted almonds on top (it’s fine if they’re still warm). Sprinkle with more demerara sugar, scatter more almonds, and continue alternating until you’ve used all the demerara sugar and toasted almonds and covered the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Set the pan aside.
Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until combined. Set aside.
Cream the almond paste, butter, and sugar: Crumble the almond pasted into a large bowl (your standard mixing bowl if you’re using a stand mixer) and break up any larger pieces with your fingertips. Add the butter and granulated sugar and beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment at medium-low speed until the sugar and butter are incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the almond paste is broken down into tiny pieces and the mixture is pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Beat in the eggs: Beat the eggs one at a time on medium-high until smooth, then continue to beat until the mixture is very light, thick, and creamy, about 1 minute longer.
Make the batter: Reduce the mixer speed to low and add about half of the dry ingredients, mixing just until the flour disappears, then add the amaretto and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix just until you have a smooth batter. Switch to a flexible spatula and fold the batter several times, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, to make sure it’s evenly mixed.
Fill the pan: Slowly and gently scrape the batter into the prepared pan, trying not to disturb the almonds and sugar at the bottom. Carefully work the batter to the edges of the pan with a spatula and smooth the surface.
Bake: Bake the cake until the surface is domed and deep golden brown (it will brown more than you might expect) and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes (mine took closer to 45). Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then, using a small offset spatula or paring knife and keeping it pressed firmly against the side of the pan, cut down and around the cake to loosen it. Invert the cake onto a wire rack and slowly remove the pan, then carefully peel away the parchment if it sticks to the cake. Let cool completely.