A bit later than I had planned to do this and in actual fact I am putting up two recipes this month. The first is the almond and amaretto cake I had always planned and the second is frangipane which someone has asked me for so here goes!
Almond and Amaretto – for a 6″ cake
200g unsalted butter
200g golden caster sugar
4 medium eggs, beaten
1/2 tbsp vanilla essence
1 tspn almond essence
150g self raising flour
50 g ground almonds
80ml Disaronno Amaretto Liqueur (or more depending on your taste)
1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line two six inch tins
2. Cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add in almond and vanilla essence and combine well.
4. Slowly add in beaten eggs, add a little flour to prevent it curdling.
5. Finally fold in flour and ground almonds until well combined.
6. Separate mixture into two tins and cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean and the cake is golden and well risen.
7. Use a wooden skewer to poke holes in the cakes then pour over the amaretto – you can add more if you like!
8. Sandwich together with a Swiss meringue buttercream – this can be plain vanilla or add a teaspoon of almond essence to it.
Frangipane – 6″ cake
200g unsalted butter
200g golden caster sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp almond essence
60ml milk
140g plain flour
140g self raising flour
50g ground almonds
50g coconut shreds (very important, not dessicated coconut, it must be large shreds, available from health food stores, I get mine from Taj in Brighton if anyone is local)
A good quality raspberry preserve
1. Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line one 6″ tin – this cake doesn’t have a filling though if you really want one you can always split it and add a layer of raspberry preserve.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until well combined.
3. Add in almond essence and eggs, adding a little flour to stop them separating.
4. Fold in the ground almonds and flour until well combined. Add in the milk – you may find you need a little more or little less. I tend to do this bit by sight just so the mixture is a bit looser but not runny!
5. Use scissors just to chop up the coconut strips into slightly smaller pieces then fold in to the mixture.
6.Warm some of the raspberry preserve in a bowl until it is a bit runny. Pour a third of the cake mixture into the tin and then drizzle over some of the jam, not so it covers it entirely but so there are several strands over the cake. Add another third of cake mixture and more jam. Add the final third of cake mixture and then a little more jam. Take a knife and swirl it around in the cake mixture in the tin to mix in the jam a little more but not too much as you only want to create swirls through the cake, not mix it totally.
7. Cook in the oven for 45mins – 1hr or until the cake is well risen, golden and a knife inserted comes out clean.
This is just yummy as it is. It makes quite a firm cake but I really like it! More recipes next month
Recipe of the Month – February
A bit later than I had planned to do this and in actual fact I am putting up two recipes this month. The first is the almond and amaretto cake I had always planned and the second is frangipane which someone has asked me for so here goes!
Almond and Amaretto – for a 6″ cake
200g unsalted butter
200g golden caster sugar
4 medium eggs, beaten
1/2 tbsp vanilla essence
1 tspn almond essence
150g self raising flour
50 g ground almonds
80ml Disaronno Amaretto Liqueur (or more depending on your taste)
1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line two six inch tins
2. Cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add in almond and vanilla essence and combine well.
4. Slowly add in beaten eggs, add a little flour to prevent it curdling.
5. Finally fold in flour and ground almonds until well combined.
6. Separate mixture into two tins and cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean and the cake is golden and well risen.
7. Use a wooden skewer to poke holes in the cakes then pour over the amaretto – you can add more if you like!
8. Sandwich together with a Swiss meringue buttercream – this can be plain vanilla or add a teaspoon of almond essence to it.
Frangipane – 6″ cake
200g unsalted butter
200g golden caster sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp almond essence
60ml milk
140g plain flour
140g self raising flour
50g ground almonds
50g coconut shreds (very important, not dessicated coconut, it must be large shreds, available from health food stores, I get mine from Taj in Brighton if anyone is local)
A good quality raspberry preserve
1. Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line one 6″ tin – this cake doesn’t have a filling though if you really want one you can always split it and add a layer of raspberry preserve.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until well combined.
3. Add in almond essence and eggs, adding a little flour to stop them separating.
4. Fold in the ground almonds and flour until well combined. Add in the milk – you may find you need a little more or little less. I tend to do this bit by sight just so the mixture is a bit looser but not runny!
5. Use scissors just to chop up the coconut strips into slightly smaller pieces then fold in to the mixture.
6.Warm some of the raspberry preserve in a bowl until it is a bit runny. Pour a third of the cake mixture into the tin and then drizzle over some of the jam, not so it covers it entirely but so there are several strands over the cake. Add another third of cake mixture and more jam. Add the final third of cake mixture and then a little more jam. Take a knife and swirl it around in the cake mixture in the tin to mix in the jam a little more but not too much as you only want to create swirls through the cake, not mix it totally.
7. Cook in the oven for 45mins – 1hr or until the cake is well risen, golden and a knife inserted comes out clean.
This is just yummy as it is. It makes quite a firm cake but I really like it! More recipes next month