Almond Sponge Tea Cake Food

ALMOND TEA CAKES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs and extract; mix well. Add flour and baking powder (dough will be soft). Chill. , For filling, in a small bowl, stir egg white, sugar, almonds and lemon juice. Remove a portion of the dough at a time from the refrigerator. Place 1-in. balls of dough into miniature muffin cups, pressing slightly into sides and bottom. Place 1/2 teaspoon filling into each. Cover with quarter-sized circles of dough. , Brush with a little milk and top with an almond. Bake at 350° until golden, 14-16 minutes.

ALMOND SPONGE TEA CAKE

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line the bottom of an 8-inch spring form pan with parchment paper.
• 2. Stir together the almond flour and potato starch. Set aside.
• 3. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the egg yolks until lightened. Add 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar and the vanilla. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is foamy and falls from the whip in thick ribbons.
• 4. In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Beat until the egg whites hold stiff peaks.
• 5. Fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Fold in the almond flour mixture. Pour into the prepared pan.
• 6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cake springs back quickly when touched lightly.
• 7. Cool completely on a wire rack in the pan.
• 8. While the cake cools, make the Orange Glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, orange juice and zest.
• 9. Use a fork to drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Sprinkle it with the sliced almonds if desired.
• 10. This tender, moist sponge cake can be used in so many ways. Serve it plain with a dusting of powdered sugar. Split it in half and fill with rich chocolate ganache for a special birthday. Or serve it with cream and fresh berries, as the picture above. For more variety, make chocolate ganache for the top, and fill it with pastry cream for a Boston Cream PIe. For a Victorian Sponge, split, and fill it with whipped cream and preserves, your favorite flavor, ( raspberry, or blackberry it good! If desired, strain out the seeds) For a simple cake, spoon a pastry cream (or vanilla pudding, soft), and fresh strawberries. Layer slices of cake, fruit and pudding or whipped cream to make a simple trifle.

ALMOND SPONGE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place almonds in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; toast until golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let almonds cool.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Place the cooled almonds and the cornstarch in bowl of a food processor. Process until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Set aside.
• Butter two 6-inch-round layer-cake pans. Line pans with parchment paper, and butter again. Flour pans, and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together egg yolks and vanilla. With mixer on high speed, gradually add 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until pale, thick, and light, about 5 minutes. Transfer egg-yolk mixture to a large bowl; set aside. Wash and dry mixer bowl and attachment.
• Place egg whites and salt in the clean mixer bowl. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Increase the speed to high, and gradually add the remaining sugar. Beat until stiff and glossy, about 4 minutes.
• Fold the egg-white mixture into the egg-yolk mixture. In three additions, fold the reserved ground-almond mixture into this new mixture. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans, and smooth the tops with an offset spatula.
• Bake cakes until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool, about 25 minutes. Turn out cakes, and cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.

MINI JOCONDE SPONGE CAKES

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly spray 2 half sheet trays (each 18 by 13 inches) with cooking spray and line each with parchment paper then spray the parchment generously.
• Sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar, cake flour and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in the whole eggs until smooth and set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Sprinkle in the granulated sugar and whip on high speed until the mixture reaches soft peaks, about 1 minute. Gently fold in half of the egg whites into the flour mixture until combined, then fold that mixture into the remaining egg whites and fold until fully incorporated. Fold in the melted butter.
• Divide the batter equally between the 2 prepared sheet trays and spread evenly--it will not reach all four sides of a pan and that's okay. Bake, rotating 180 degrees halfway through baking, until the edges of the cakes are lightly golden and the surface springs back when touched, about 8 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool in the sheet trays to room temperature.
• For the buttercream: Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a medium bowl using a hand mixer, start whipping together the butter, powdered sugar and salt. Mix in a little bit of the milk at a time so the mixture is not too dry. Add the vanilla. Turn up the mixer speed and whip until the buttercream is smooth. If the buttercream is too wet, mix in a bit more powdered sugar; if it's too stiff, mix in a bit more butter. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice to make sure everything is combined.
• Use immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 24 hours or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Re-whip if the buttercream is cold.
• Divide the buttercream equally between 2 small bowls. Add the pink gel color to one of the bowls and whisk well to combine. Add the blue gel color to the other bowl and whisk well to combine. Transfer each buttercream to its own piping bag fitted with a star tip.
• For assembly and decorating: Working with 1 cake at a time, gently turn out onto a cutting board and remove the parchment. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cutter, cut each cake into 36 rounds. Pipe the pink buttercream around the edges of 8 cake rounds. Pipe the blue buttercream around the edges of another 8 cake rounds. Place 1 teaspoon of the jam in the middle of each frosted cake round. To stack the cakes, place any frosted cake round on top of another frosted cake round then top with a plain cake round. Repeat to create a total of twenty-four 3-layer mini cakes. Drizzle the melted candy melting wafers over the cakes, pipe a buttercream rosette on top of each and decorate with sprinkles and/or sugar flowers.

CHERRY, CUSTARD & ALMOND SPONGE CAKE

Steps:

• Butter two 20cm loose-bottomed round sandwich tins and line with baking parchment. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 4. Tip the butter and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat for 10 mins, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt and the milk. Spoon the batter into the prepared tins and bake in the centre of the oven for 22-25 mins, or until risen and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for 5 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Put the cherries, vanilla, sugar, lemon juice and kirsch or liqueur (if using) in a pan and bring to a simmer over a low heat. Cook for 5 mins, turn up the heat to medium and cook for 5-7 mins more until the liquid becomes syrupy. If the cherries are softened but the liquid isn't yet syrupy, strain the liquid into a separate pan and simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
• Beat the cream and icing sugar together using an electric whisk until the cream has thickened, then fold in the custard and chill for 1 hr.
• Put one of the sponges on a cake plate or stand and spread over the custard cream. Spoon over the cherries, then top with the second sponge. Dust with more icing sugar and serve immediately. Leftovers will keep chilled for two days and are best served at room temperature.