Italian Orange Almond Cake
- 1 box or can, almond paste (7-8 ounce quantity) They've recently changed the packaging.
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp Orange liquor - ie, Grand Marnier or Cointreau
- 1 grated zest of a whole orange
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup presifted flour, or cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp or more, confectioners sugar for dusting
- Preheat oven to 325 while preparing recipe.
- Make sure rack is in middle of oven.
- Generously butter and flour a 9" cake pan or a 9" spring form pan.
- Set aside.
- (Not on top of oven.)
- It is absolutely necessary that the butter and eggs are at room temperature.
- Don't heat butter to soften.
- Break up almond paste by placing it into a food processor, or using an electric mini chopster.
- Process until it is grainy like the texture of small course grains.
- Set aside.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy for 3 minutes.
- Add orange liquor, orange zest (HINT: sprinkle the zest across, do not add in one lump) and almond paste.
- Beat until perfectly blended for 3 minutes.
- One by one add in eggs incorporating each separately until each egg is completely blended.
- Then beat for 3 minutes until mixture is very smooth and fluffy.
- HINT: break eggs into small glass bowl to make sure there are no egg shell fragments.
- Sprinkle on flour and baking powder mix by hand until blended then beat for 1 minute.
- Scrape batter into prepared pan and place in middle of rack.
- Bake for 55 minutes exactly.
- No more, no less.
- Here's the hard part!
- DO NOT OPEN OVEN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
- RESIST ALL TEMPTATION TO CHECK ON CAKE.
- If you have a window, check that way.
- Towards the end of cook time you may think it's burning but it's not.
- Remove from oven to wire rack and cool for 15 minutes.
- Cake will have already slightly pulled away from sides and center could deflate a bit.
- After 15 minutes if using a spring form, remove outer ring.
- If using a cake pan, turn cake upside down onto a plate then invert back onto the wire rack.
- Allow the cake to cool completely.
- You can refrigerate the cake over night.
- DO NOT wrap in saran/plastic wrap.
- Lightly wrap in wax paper.
- Allow cake to come to room temperature before dusting with powdered sugar.
- Before dusting with powdered sugar consider using, or making, a stencil to create a beautiful design.
- It will make them think you got the cake from a bakery.
almond paste, unsalted butter, sugar, orange, eggs, flour, baking powder, confectioners sugar
Taken from cookpad.com/us/recipes/356588-italian-orange-almond-cake (may not work)