Description
A spicy cake filled with almond paste, covered in coloured icing and topped with rich buttercream.
Ingredients
Units
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 (30 ml) liqueur of choice
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
- Category: Baking
- Cuisine: European
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 320