Almond Cake is a traditional British recipe, based on Robert Kemp Philp's recipe of 1859, for a classic cake made from a mix of almond paste, sugar, plain flour and butter lightened with beaten eggs. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Almond Cake.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Almond Cake that's derived from Robert Kemp Philp's 1859 volume, The Dictionary of Daily Wants. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
Blanch, dry, and pound to the finest possible paste, eight ounces of fresh Jordan almonds, and one ounce of bitter ditto; moisten them with a few drops of cold water, or white of egg, to prevent their oiling; then mix with them very gradually, twelve fresh eggs, which have been whisked until they are exceedingly light; throw in by degrees one pound of fine dry sifted sugar, and keep the whole light by constant beating with a large wooden spoon, as the separate ingredients are added. Mix in, by degrees, three-quarters of a pound of dried and sifted flour of the best quality; then pour gently from the sediment a pound of butter, which has just been melted, but not allowed to become hot, and beat it gradually but thoroughly into a cake; add the finely-grated rinds of two sound fresh lemons, fill a thickly-buttered mould rather more than half full with the mixture and bake the cake from an hour and a half to two hours in a well-heated oven. Lay paper over the top when it is sufficiently browned and guard carefully against its being burned.
Jordan almonds, 1/21b.; bitter almonds, 1oz.; eggs, 12; sugar 1 lb.; flour 3/4lb.; butter, 1lb.; rinds of lemons, 2.
Coarsely grind the almonds in a blender then transfer to a mortar and pound to a paste. Add the bitter almond extract and a few drops of cold water to moisten (this prevents the nuts from releasing their oil).
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk until they are pale and fluffy. Transfer the almond paste to a bowl and gradually whisk in the eggs. Beating constantly, add the sugar a little at a time until thoroughly incorporated then repeat this mixing process with the flour.
Add the butter to a pan and heat gently until just melted. Allow to cool slightly then pour into the batter, whisking constantly to combine. Finally beat in the lemon zests. Pour the resultant batter into a springform cake tin that's been generously buttered, filling the tin a little more than half full.
Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 160°C and bake for about 90 minutes, or until the cake is cooked through and a skewer inserted into the centre emerges cleanly. If the cake is cooking too quickly then place a piece of buttered baking parchment over the top.
When done, allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Jordan almonds, 1/21b.; bitter almonds, 1oz.; eggs, 12; sugar 1 lb.; flour 3/4lb.; butter, 1lb.; rinds of lemons, 2.