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Butter Cake With Almond-Paste Filling
(Gevulde Boterkoek)
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| What You Need: |
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ALMOND FILLING
2/3 cup blanched almonds, pulverized in a blender or with a nut grinder and rubbed through a sieve
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup seedless raisins
2 tablespoons orange marmalade
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
BUTTER CAKE
½ pound plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 to 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
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| How To Cook: |
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1. Starting one or even two days ahead, prepare the almond filling. Combine the almonds, ½ cup of sugar and 1 egg in a bowl, and mix thoroughly. Stir in the raisins, marmalade and lemon peel, then cover the bowl with a dampened towel and set aside at room temperature for at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours.
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BUTTER CAKE:
1. In a deep bowl, cream ½ pound of softened butter and 1 cup of sugar together by beating and mashing them against the sides of the bowl with a large spoon until light and fluffy.
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2. Beat in the egg, then add 2 cups of flour, about ½ cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When finished, the dough should be firm enough to gather into a compact ball; if necessary, add up to ½ cup more flour by the tablespoon.
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3. Wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate it for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, with a pastry brush, spread the remaining 2 tablespoons of softened butter evenly over the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round false-bottom cake pan 1½ inches deep.
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4. Break off about half of the dough and, dipping your hands into the remaining ¼ cup of flour occasionally, shape the dough into a flattened round 7 or 8 inches in diameter.
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5. Place the round in the buttered pan and, with floured fingers, pat and smooth the dough until it completely and evenly covers the bottom of the pan. On a lightly floured surface pat and shape the remaining half of the dough into a cylinder about 12 inches long and 1to 2 inches in diameter. Chill for another 20 minutes.
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6. Preheat the oven to 325°F. With a spatula, smooth the almond-filling mixture evenly over the pastry in the pan. With a sharp knife, slice the cylinder crosswise into 1-inch-thick rounds.
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7. With the spatula, flatten the rounds further and arrange them on top of the filling, overlapping them slightly and pinching the edges together so that the pastry covers the filling completely.
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8. Brush the top with the beaten egg white and bake in the middle of the oven for about 1½ hours, or until golden brown.
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9. Remove the pan from the oven, and set it on a large jar or coffee can and slip down the outside rim. Let it cool to room temperature, then run a long metal spatula under the cake to loosen it and slide it off onto a large serving plate.
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| Serving Size: one 8-inch round cake |
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