Almond Gateau Food

ALMOND AND HAZELNUT GATEAU

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees Celsius.
• Grease 2 round 7" cake pans and line the bottoms with baking parchment.
• Whisk the eggs and superfine sugar in a large mixing bowl for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture is light and foamy.
• Fold in the ground nuts, strain the flour and fold
• Pour into the pans.
• Sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top of one of the cakes.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until springy to the touch.
• Let the cakes cool slightly in the pans then transfer to wire rack to cool completely Melt the chocolate, remove from heat and stir in the butter and almond extract, fold in the cool whip and mix.
• Cover the bottom cake with filling and place the almond-covered cake on top.
• Chill for at least an hour and dust with confectioners' sugar.

ALMOND GATEAU

Steps:

• Mix together the ground almonds and the caster sugar until quite smooth (best in a processor). Whip the egg whites to stiff peak, scatter over the nuts and sugar mixture then very carefully fold together. Pile into an 20 cm/ 8" diameter tin lined with silicon paper and bake for approximately 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 180° C/ 350° F/ Gas Mark 4, until golden brown and set. Place the tin on a rack until the cake has cooled, then turn out carefully.

ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Finely grind the almonds in a food processor.
• With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the sugar to a smooth pale cream. Beat in the zests and almond extract. Add the ground almonds and mix very well.
• With clean beaters, beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the egg and almond mixture (the mixture is thick, so that you will need to turn it over quite a bit into the egg whites).
• Grease an 11-inch springform pan, preferably nonstick, with butter and dust it with flour. Pour in the cake batter, and bake into a preheated 350°F for 40 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch. Let cool before turning out.
• Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with confectioners' sugar. Or, if you like, cut a St. James cross out of paper. Place it in the middle of the cake, and dust the cake with confectioners' sugar, then remove the paper.