Читать книгу Cake: 200 fabulous foolproof baking recipes - Rachel Allen - Страница 27

Marzipan cake

This cake is incredibly quick to make, with the food processor doing all of the work. The marzipan gives the cake a wonderfully moist texture and an intense almondy flavour. You can make your own marzipan, and I’ve included a recipe opposite, or, for a super-fast cake, just use shop-bought marzipan if you prefer.

Prep time: 5 minutes (excluding the marzipan)

Baking time: 50 minutes

Ready in: 1 hour 30 minutes

Serves: 8–12

125g (4½oz) caster sugar

125g (4½oz) marzipan (to make it yourself)

100g (3½oz) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

4 eggs

A few drops (not more than ⅛ tsp) of almond essence or extract

75g (3oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

¾ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

20cm (8in) diameter cake tin with 6cm (2½ in) sides

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F), Gas mark 3. Butter the sides of the cake tin and dust with flour, then line the base with a disc of baking parchment.

Place the sugar and marzipan in a food processor and whiz together until the marzipan is finely ground and the mixture resembles grains of sand.

Next add the butter, eggs and almond essence or extract and whiz until smooth and fluffy. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the machine and pulse a few times, just until all the ingredients are incorporated. (Try not to over-mix or your cake will be a little heavy.)

Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and bake the cake on a lower shelf in the oven for about 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes, then use a small, sharp knife to loosen the edges of the cake tin. Allow to cool completely in the tin before carefully removing the cake and transferring to a serving plate.