Friday, February 17, 2012

A revival post: Lemon Almond Cake



Sooooooooooooooooooo... apparently, I let my blog die out... Is there anyone out there? Give me a shout if you can hear me!

I think it's been over a year from my last blog post... in that year, I've been busy!

We added to our crazy zoo in September!

Our beautiful baby girl is almost 5 months old now. It's been a truly amazing ride so far! We are over our heads in love.
 

I haven't been in the kitchen as much in the past year but about this time last year, I had come across a recipe I wanted to make for one of my coworkers for her birthday. She loves lemon and almond flavored things and is always suggesting I add one of the two flavors to baked goods. I ended up getting a nasty cold around her birthday so I ended up just buying a cake. I shelved this recipe for the year but dug it out this week. I have to say, I myself, am a chocoholic... I tend to be selective with what I eat in terms of cakes and don't indulge unless it's chocolate. BUT I would have devoured this cake myself if given the chance. It came out moist and a perfect balance of flavors.


Meyer Lemon Almond Cake
recipe from The Merry Gourmet

Ingredients for Cake

1 1/3 cup sugar
8 ounces almond paste
3/4 cup plus 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
7 drops orange flower water (optional)  (I omitted this)
Zest of 2 Meyer lemons
6 large eggs, room temperature


Ingredients for Meyer Lemon Glaze
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice


Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch diameter spring form pan, dust with flour, and tap out any excess. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a food processor, pulse the sugar, almond paste, and 1/4 cup flour until the almond paste is finely ground and the mixture resembles sand. Add the cubes of butter, the extracts, the orange flower water, and the Meyer lemon zest. Process until the batter is smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, processing a bit before the next addition, scraping down bowl as needed.

Transfer the batter to a large mixing bowl and add the flour mixture. Mix by hand until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared spring form pan and bake for 65 minutes, or until the top is deep brown and feels set when you press in the center.

Remove cake from oven and run a sharp serrated knife around the perimeter, loosening the cake from the sides of the pan. Let the cake cool completely in pan; once cool, remove sides of spring form pan and invert cake onto rack. Remove bottom of spring form pan and parchment paper from the cake. Carefully turn cake back over and onto a cake plate for serving.
While cake is cooling, make Meyer lemon glaze: In small bowl, mix confectioners sugar with lemon juice, adding more lemon juice if necessary to achieve the desired consistency (less juice for a thicker glaze; more juice for a thinner glaze). Once cake is cool and on cake plate for serving, drizzle glaze over cake. Serve and enjoy!




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