Jam Glazed Almond Cake

Sunday 10 September 2017


Today I decided to bake us a cake.  I normally like baking a cake at the weekend.  It seems the perfect time and as today was a rather blustery and rainy day, a delicious cake was just the ticket to make a gloomy day all the better.


I found a delicious looking recipe in a Tamasin Day Lewis cookery book of mine, entitled, "Supper for a Song."  Its filled with lovely recipes that are economical and delicious.  I think Tamasin is a fabulous cook and largely unknown outside of our borders.  I have all of her cookbooks and they never fail to inspire me.


This book is one of my favourites, with decadent recipes and beautiful photographs. Not sure how economical some of the recipes are, but they are all taste-tempting at any rate and she does manage to squeak everything she can from a roast chicken.


We totally adore almond cakes . . . . cakes where they use some ground almonds to replace some of the flour. We love the density it brings to a cake . . . you grind the almonds yourself for this cake, marcona almonds . . .  lovely and almondy.  So fresh. If you don't have marcona almonds you could use any blanched almond, and in a pinch, already ground almonds, but you really need to try it this way once.  Trust me on this.


We also totally adore jam in any way shape or form, and this cake has a beautiful glaze of jam.  You can use whatever kind of jam you like.  I used sour cherry today because that is what I had and cherry flavours go very well with almond.

 
The cake turned out to be a truly beautiful cake with a tender and moist crumb, just a bit dense  . . .   the jam gets warmed with a bit of water  and spooned over the warm cake . . . it soaks in a teensy beensie bit and dribbles a bit over the edges.  In short.  Perfect. 

 

*Jam Glazed Almond Cake*
Makes one 8 inch cake 
 
We are great fans of nut cakes in this house and we adore jam.  This cake combines two of our great loves in a most delicious way.  Adapted from a recipe by Tamasin Day Lewis. 

300g of blanched Marcona almonds (scant two cups)
225g of butter, softened (1 cup)
225g of caster sugar (19 TBS or a scant 1 1/4 cup)
the finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
1 tsp natural almond extract
1/2 tsp  vanilla paste
3 large free range eggs
120g of plain flour (1 cup minus 4 TBS)
1 heaped tsp of baking powder 

To finish:
a heaped dessertspoon of your favourite jam
2 tsp water 

Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3.  Butter and flour an 8 inch spring form pan.   Grind the almonds in a food processor until they are just a little coarser than fine grind.  You want some texture. 

Cream the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Beat in the lemon zest and extracts. Fold in the ground almonds.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time until well blended.  Sift the flour and baking powder together.   Fold this mixture into the beaten mixture with a metal spoon.   Spoon into the prepared baking tin and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 55 minutes, or until a cocktail stick inserted in the centre comes out clean.  (Tamasin suggests checking it at 50 minutes.)  Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing onto a plate. 

Melt the jam with the water in a small pan over low heat, or in the microwave for about 35 seconds, whisking well to combine.  It should just be warm.   Pour this mixture over top of the cake and spread it around.   

Our favourite jam flavours:  Apricot, cherry, strawberry, blueberry.  In short, any flavour!



Lashings of thick cream or ice cream would not go amiss with this.  Nor would custard or ice cream.  All are fabulous. I do hope you will bake this lovely cake. Its a real treat!  Bon appetit!

10 comments

  1. I made this after breakfast with bought ground almonds -all I had on hand- and apricot jam. We had it warm with coffee. Lovely!

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    1. Oh yum Sara! So pleased it was enjoyed! Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know. I adore apricot jam! xo

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  2. Oh my goodness, this looks wonderful! Here in America, I have discovered that the preserves made in France "Bonne Maman" are far superior to use in a recipe! (Wish the Bonne Maman would send me a CASE of their great preserves! LOL!)

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  3. Kay, I wish they would send me a case as well! Its my favourite of all the preserves. Right up there next to homemade! It's all I use! Xo

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  4. This is brilliant Marie! A no fuss sort of speak, icing on the cake! Fussy me doesn't like jam in my cake, but on top of it esp with the cake warm is making my mouth water. Lol. I'm thinking cherry or strawberry jam on top. Yum! This is a must try when I get some almonds! Now if I could find a great recipe for a pb cake that would be even better! Is there a recipe for pb cake or pb bread in those ckbks?

    I made a pb bread last yr and I was disappointed! I made some dk choc zucchini bread and it wasn't chocolatey enough,even with bits in it. I also made yet another kind I wasn't fond of. I hate it when that happens! Lol.

    Big hugs and prayers that ur knee is feeling better soon!

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    1. Thanks Jan, any jam will work well. I do have a lovely peanut butter cake. Here is a link to the recipe: https://sites.google.com/site/oakcottagerecipes/peanut-butter-picnic-cake-1

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  5. I made this today, using a compote of blueberries to spoon over it. The cake was lovely - it's a dense kind of texture, but is still beautifully moist and the compote and a little whipped cream to serve made it perfect. It looks rerally nice as you serve it, too.

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    Replies
    1. I think its a very European Cake Marie. They tend to be denser than others, but it is as you say, a moist denseness that I also quite enjoy! Your blueberry compote sounds lovely! Oh, and whipped cream as well. Yummy! xo

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