Easy almond cake recipe
I wanted to make something sweet related to April Fools' Day, but aside from fish-shaped cookies, there don't seem to be any great culinary specialties for this day, at least not in Rome.
Ingredients · Servings 8
- 400 g of flour for confectionery
- 150g of icing sugar
- 1 sachet of vanilla (0.5 g)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 4 egg yolks
- 200g of butter
- 1 liter of milk
- 1 vanilla bean
- 8 egg yolks
- 80g of flour
- 250 g of sugar
- The grated zest of half a lemon
Method · 1 h 25 min
- To prepare the cream: Heat 750 ml of milk with the vanilla pod, which should first be split lengthwise from top to bottom. Remove from the heat just before the milk boils and let it cool. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and the grated zest of half a lemon until you have a light and frothy cream.
- Once well combined, gradually add the sifted flour, stirring constantly. Add the unboiled milk, stirring continuously. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk and add the egg mixture.
- Heat the cream over very low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent lumps from forming, until it is very thick. Let it cool in a shallow container in the refrigerator, completely covered with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
- Preparing the dough: Knead the flour, the butter cut into small pieces (straight from the refrigerator), and a pinch of salt until you obtain a sandy dough. (If you can do this with a food processor or blender, even better.) Place the dough on a marble surface and make a well in the center. Add the eggs, vanilla, and sugar to the well and knead quickly until compact. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and leave it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator, take it out of the plastic wrap, and divide it as follows: two-thirds for the base of the pie; one-third for the top. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit). Roll out the dough for the base. Grease and flour the pie dish. Place the dough inside, trimming any excess dough, and prick the surface a few times with the tines of a fork.
- Fill the pie with the cream. Roll out the pastry for the top crust. Spread the cream over the pastry and prick it all over with a fork. Seal the edges of the pastry to the top crust by pressing the fork around the edge of the pie.
- Scatter the sliced almonds over the cake. Bake for 45 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar once cooled. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
