One of my family's great food loves is banket. It is an almond Dutch pastry that has long been a staple at our family gatherings. This cake is very reminiscent of banket, but I much prefer this cake because of its smooth, dense texture. I am looking forward to making it again so I can bring it to a family gathering. After all, it is much easier to make than banket also.
Almond Cake
Credit:The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser
Ingredients:
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
One 7-ounce tube almond paste
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 teaspoon almond extract
confectioners sugar for dusting
Directions:
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper; butter the paper. Mix together the sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl. Sift the flour and salt together.
- Cream the butter and sugar in a food processor, until pale and fluffy Pull the almond paste into small pieces and add it, a little at a time, to the butter mixture, pulsing until very smooth. Add the egg yolks one at time,mixing until incorporated. Blend in the almond extract and sour cream mixture.
- Using a rubber spatula, transfer the batter to a bowl. Fold in the flour mixture until the batter is smooth and there are no bits of flour left.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. It is done when you press the top and it springs back and it shrinks from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool in the pan.
- When ready to serve, remove the sides of the pan, sift the confectioners' sugar on top of the cake, and slice into wedges.
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