Description

A spicy cake filled with almond paste, covered in coloured icing and topped with rich buttercream.

Ingredients

Scale

350 g (12,5 oz) self-raising flour
200 g (7 oz) sugar
30 g (1 oz) butter
1 egg
50 ml water
2 tsp ground aniseed
1 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
zest of one orange, grated
300 g (10,5 oz) almond paste
50 g (2 oz) icing sugar
orange food colouring or carrot juice
chocolates to decorate

For the cream

4 egg yolks
100 g (3,5 oz) sugar
80 ml water
200 g (7 oz) soft butter
2 tbsp liqueur of choice

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Instructions

Preheat the oven at 160C/320F.
Line a baking tray of 25×30 cm/10×12 inch with baking paper or grease it well.
Mix the butter, orange zest, salt, aniseed and nutmeg.
Mix in the sugar.
Mix in the egg and water.
Mix in the flour and knead to form a smooth dough, divide in 2 portions.
To make the dough better manageable and less sticky, put it 5 minutes in the freezer or 15 minutes in the fridge.
Roll out the first portion of dough to fit the baking tray.
Divide the almond paste on top of the dough.
Roll out the second portion of dough, place on top of the almond paste, press the sides.
Place the filled dough in the baking tray.
Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 30 minutes (it will stay quite pale).
Leave to cool.
Decorate with the cream and chocolates.

To prepare the cream

Bring some water to the boil, place a bowl on top (au bain marie).
Heat sugar and water in a small pan to 115C/240F.
Meanwhile, put the egg yolks into the bowl of the bain marie.
Mix with an electric mixer until pale, add the sugar syrup in a thin drizzle while keeping mixing.
Take the bowl from the bain marie, keep mixing.
Add in the liqueur.
Add the soft butter cube for cube.
Keep mixing, at this stage it looks awful thin but it will be okay.
Fill the pan of the bain marie with cold water, place the bowl back and mix until the buttercream thickens.
Put the bowl in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to stabilize, take out a while before piping to get a little softer.

Notes

If you cannot get aniseed, you can substitute it with 1 tablespoon crushed anise milk cubes or with smashed “muisjes” (sprinkles, aniseeds covered with a coloured sugar layer).
The amount of icing sugar makes enough icing for a thin layer, if you like a thicker layer, double the amount.
The recipe for the cream makes a lot. If you decorate the cakes in the same way as I did, you will use about half of it. Halving the recipe will not work well, the amounts will be to small to work with, so use the other half of the cream for something else. It can be preserved for about a week in the fridge (in an airtight box).
Also the cream is not very easy and fast to prepare, so feel free to use whipped cream or another buttercream you like as a substitution, or even serve the cake without.

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour