Almond Cake Or Torta De Almendra Recipes

ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Finely grind the almonds in a food processor.
• With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the sugar to a smooth pale cream. Beat in the zests and almond extract. Add the ground almonds and mix very well.
• With clean beaters, beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the egg and almond mixture (the mixture is thick, so that you will need to turn it over quite a bit into the egg whites).
• Grease an 11-inch springform pan, preferably nonstick, with butter and dust it with flour. Pour in the cake batter, and bake into a preheated 350°F for 40 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch. Let cool before turning out.
• Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with confectioners' sugar. Or, if you like, cut a St. James cross out of paper. Place it in the middle of the cake, and dust the cake with confectioners' sugar, then remove the paper.

SPANISH ALMOND CHERRY CAKE (TORTA DE ALMENDRAS)

Steps:

• Butter and flour an 8 or 9 inch cake tin.
• Stir together the sugar, almonds, cinnamon and flour.
• Add egg yolks, brandy and chopped cherries.
• Combine well.
• Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the yolk mixture.
• Transfer to the prepared cake tin.
• Bake in a preheated 325°F oven for 30 minutes until the cake tests done.
• Let the cake cool in the tin for 15 minutes before unmolding.

ALMOND TART (TARTA DE ALMENDRAS)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 10-inch pie plate.
• In a blender, blend the sugar and lemon zest until they are well mixed. Add the almonds, and blend again until the almonds are ground fine. Add the eggs, egg yolks, and butter, and blend until all the contents are well mixed. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.
• Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Scrape the batter into the pan, and smooth the top. Bake the tart on the center rack of the oven for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean but the tart is still moist. Let it cool on a wire rack.
• Spoon Sweet Basque Cream onto each plate, and set a tart wedge on top. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, and serve.
• Note: Almonds, easy to find in any supermarket, are most commonly sold raw or blanched. Buy raw almonds, if possible. Because you will be grinding the nuts, it doesn't matter whether they're whole or sliced when you buy them.

TORTA DE CIELO (ALMOND SPONGE CAKE)

Steps:

• Pour hot water over the almonds to cover and let them soak at least six hours; skin them.
• Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Butter a 9" springform pan generously; cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom; lay it in the bottom, press, and turn so that the parchment is buttered on both sides; lightly flour the pan.
• Chop the nuts roughly, then grind them a little at a time; to qoute Ms. Kennedy, "they should be neither too coarse not too fine.".
• Beat the egg whites until fluffy; add the salt and continue beating until they are stiff.
• Add the yolks one by one and continue beating until incorporated.
• Mix the dry ingredients together and, beating at low speed, gradually add them to the egg mixture.
• Add the brandy and almond extract, mix well and pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 1 and 1/4 hours in the middle of the oven.
• Let the cake get cold before removing it from the pan.
• This moist, textured cake keeps almost indefinitely if stored in a cool dry place--preferably not the refrigerator.