Tag Archives | almonds

Ground Almond and Chocolate Easter Cake with Chocolate Glaze

By Ozlem Warren on April 4, 2012 in Cakes and Desserts 15

Almond and chocolate Easter Cake

I am a bit of an almond fan. Some of the best almonds come from Turkey and we eat them in abundance at home. They are not only packed with flavor but they also have great health benefits. To name a few; almonds are full of fiber and antioxidants, they reduce your risk of heart disease and lower risk of weight gain.

I spotted this wonderful Chocolate and Almond Easter Cake at Rose Prince’s Easter Bake. The ground almonds make this cake really moist and the cake stays fresh for 4-5 days. It is a rich cake and I like to cut it in small squares to enjoy the cake as a “treat”. The children absolutely love decorating and licking out the bowl of remaining melted chocolate in the end! It is also a lovely dessert for Passover, if you’re celebrating.

Preparation time : 35 minutes Baking time : 40 minutes

350g/ 12 1/4 oz caster sugar

350g/ 12 1/4 oz softened unsalted butter

8 eggs, separated

75g/ 2 1/2 oz cocoa powder mixed to a thick paste with a little hot water

1 tsp vanilla essence

300g ground almonds

¾ tsp cream of tartar

For the chocolate glaze

200g/7 oz 60 % dark chocolate;

50g/ 1 3/4oz unsalted butter

Little Easter chocolate eggs to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Butter the base of a 25cm square cake tin and dust it lightly with flour. Line the sides with baking paper.

Beat the sugar and butter together until pale and fluffy; then beat in the egg yolks one by one. Fold in the cocoa, vanilla essence and ground almonds. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, adding the cream of tartar at the end. Fold them into the mixture, pour it into the tin and bake for about 40 minutes, until the sponge feels firm to the touch.

Almond and chocolate cake, baked

While the cake is baking, melt the butter and the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water.

Chocolate and butter, melting

Once the cake is baked, cool it in the tin for 10 minutes then gently turn out onto a rack. The sponge will sink as it cools. When cold, cut the cake into squares and dribble warm chocolate glaze over each.

Children love decorating the cake

Place the little Easter chocolate eggs on the cakes when the icing has set.

You may like to serve this lovely rich cake with a light, refreshing main course like this Baked Salmon with onions, red peppers and lemon.

I wanted to sign off with this lovely spring blossoms from our back garden, really nice to see the earth waking up in full bloom.

Wishing you all a happy Easter and Passover, if you’re celebrating,

Ozlem

Pistachio Cake with Lemon Glaze – Fistikli, limonlu kek

By Ozlem Warren on May 8, 2011 in Cakes and Desserts 9

Pistachio & almond cake with a lemon glaze

This delicious cake is originally from the River Cafe cookbook, and the authors run the wonderful Italian restaurant, River Cafe in London. The cake combines my favorite ingredients; pistachio, lemon, vanilla bean and almonds, which are commonly used in Turkish cooking too. It is a wonderfully rich cake, a real treat with tea or coffee.

prep time: 25 minutes bake time: 50 minutes

100 gr/2 sticks unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing pan, at room temperature
1 lemon, preferably Meyer lemon
1 vanilla bean
6 1/2oz/1 cup sugar
60gr/2oz slivered almonds
90gr/3oz shelled unsalted pistachios
4 large eggs, at room temperature
60gr/2oz all-purpose flour
Glaze
50gr/1 3/4oz shelled unsalted pistachios
45gr/1 1/2oz sugar
Juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F

Grease bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with some butter and line bottom with a circle of parchment paper.

With a zester, grate the lemon peel (reserve lemon). With the tip of a sharp paring knife, split the vanilla bean down the center and scrape out the seeds. In a food processor, pulse the sugar with the peel and vanilla bean. Transfer to a bowl. In the same processor bowl, pulse the almonds and pistachios until finely ground, but do not let go to paste.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and lemon-vanilla sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides the bowl between each addition. Beat in the lemon-vanilla sugar, then with a spatula fold in the flour and the nuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and shake to even it, but do not worry about smoothing the top. Bake until a skewer comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Set on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, then loosen edges of cake with a kitchen knife and remove sides of pan. Invert cake and remove bottom of pan and peel off parchment paper, then invert right side up on a serving plate.

For glaze, squeeze juice from reserved lemon. Roughly chop pistachios by hand. In a very small pot, bring the lemon juice to a boil with the sugar and cook until syrupy. Stir in the pistachios and pour over the cake. Cut into wedges to serve.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem