ITALIAN ALMOND CAKE
YOU WILL NEED :
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup castor sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
- ½ cup plain flour
- ¼ cup cornflour
- ½ cup ground almonds
- 30g ( 1oz ) butter
FILLING :
340g jar redcurrant jelly
TOPPING
- 410g ( 13 oz ) ground almonds
- ½ cup castor sugar
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 5 tablespoons rum
- 60g ( 2 oz ) flaked almonds
ITALIAN ALMOND CAKE RECIPE:
Combine in a small bowl of electric mixer eggs, sugar, and lemon rind. Beat on high speed until the mixture is thick and frothy and comes to the top of the bowl. Gently fold in sifted flour cornflour and ground almonds. Lastly, fold in - melted butter. Pour mixture into a greased and floured deep, 20cm ( 8in ) round cake tin. Bake in a moderate oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the cake is cooked. Turn out on the wire rack to cool. Let the cake stand overnight.
Cut the cake into three horizontal layers. Place 1 layer on the oven tray, spread the layer with jelly, top with another layer of cake spread again with jelly top with the final layer.
For Topping, combine in a bowl ground almonds and sugar. Mix together egg yolks and rum, gradually stir into the ground almond mixture, and mix well. Remove one-third of this mixture, and reserve. Add 1 tablespoon of unbeaten egg white to the remaining mixture, and mix well. Spread this mixture around the sides and top of the cake. The topping should be thicker on top of the cake than around the sides. If the mixture is hard to spread, mix in a little more egg white.
To the remaining almond mixture add 2 tablespoons of unbeaten egg white, and place the mixture in a piping bag which has been fitted with an open fluted tube. Decorate the top with a zig-zag pattern. Decorate with small rosettes around the edge. Bake the cake in a very hot oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until the sides of the cake turn white and the rosettes are lightly browned. Remove from the oven immediately. Melt the remaining jelly in the pan, and spoon jelly between zig-zag design as shown in the picture. Let cake cool for 10 minutes, then spread sides with leftover jelly and coat with toasted flaked almonds. Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting.
Also Read: ITALIAN PAGNOTTA