I love anything with almonds or almond flavors. Amaro Montenegro is a traditional Amaro distilled in Bologna, Italy. It is made using over 40 herbs, including vanilla and orange peels, bottled at 23%vol. The Amaro was first produced by Stanislao Cobianchi in 1885 and is named after Princess Elena of Montenegro. So, this is my new favorite Almond Cake with Amaro, it is from the book “Near and Far” by Heidi Swanson. It is very much like a pound cake, moist and dense. You can serve it with the Amaro glaze or with raspberries soaked in Amaro, or both. I made 3 little cakes instead of 1 big one. By the way, there is no flour in this cake and it is gluten free. The only flour used it is to dust the cake pan(s).
Makes: 1- 8 x 5 inch or 3-(3 x 5 ½) inch cakes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 20 minutes
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Cake:
1 ½ cups (2- 7 ounce packages) almond paste
5 large eggs, whisked
¼ cup cornstarch, sifted
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons Amaro Montenegro
Fresh Raspberries for garnish (optional)
Sparkling White Sugar for garnish, I like King Arthur’s (optional)
- Butter an 8 x 5 pan or 3-(3 x 5 ½) cake pans, coat with flour and tap out any excess. Set aside.
- In a food processor with the blade, break the almond paste into the food processor and give it a few quick pulses to create medium size, pebble pieces.
- Add the eggs and process until very smooth.
- Sprinkle in the cornstarch and salt and pulse a few times, then add the butter and the amaro.
- Blend once more and pour into prepared pan(s).
- Bake until it is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For the 3 small cakes it is about 40-45 minutes. For one large cake it is about 50-60 minutes.
- Let the 3 small cakes cool for about 5 minutes before you take them out of the pan to finish cooling. Let the large cake cool for about 20 minutes before you remove it from the pan to finish cooling.
- Let cool completely before glazing.
Amaro Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon amaro
- In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners sugar (powdered sugar) and the amaro. Keep whisking until there are no more lumps.
- Pour the glaze over the top of the cake(s), allowing the glaze to run over the sides. Or, you can top each slice of cake with raspberries that have been soaked in a splash of amaro and topped with Sparkling White Sugar to garnish.
RESOURCE LINKS:
Cookbook Near and Far by Heidi Swanson
Chicago Metallic Small Loaf Pans
Breville 16-cup Food Processor
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