N° 77: It's Cake o'Clock Somewhere
Almonds, more honey, and now powdered dates
Good morning,
Do you remember when radio stations (Z100) or MTV used to sometimes play “back-to-back” songs by the same artist? I remember the outsized thrill that gave me, which now seems inexplicable (until I realize that in the only real memories I have of this thrill, the artist in question is Madonna, and, well, Happy Pride…)
All that to say: you seemed pretty into my recipe for a Classic Almond Cake (a.k.a. T’s Favorite Almond Cake), so in back-to-back fashion, today I offer you another almond cake recipe*, this one featuring the caramel-y synchrony of honey, dates, and brown rice flour. One steak-and-potatoes (read: not granola-y) fella who tasted both cakes said, to my surprise, that he might prefer this remixed version for its bold flavor.
Key changes from my Classic Almond Cake (a.k.a. T’s Favorite Almond Cake) recipe:
The sweeteners:
Honey and dates both pair famously with almonds, so for this cake I used a 50/50 blend of the two for sweetness, with the dates in powder form (a.k.a. “date sugar”) for ease and to avoid making the batter too liquid. These ingredients tint the cake a robust shade of bronze and waft a caramel perfume into the kitchen as the cake bakes.The flour:
When I considered which flour to try instead of wheat, I remembered how besotted I was with the combination of brown rice and almond flours in my Brown Rice ‘n’ Spice Macaroons. To my delight, brown rice flour worked its magic in this cake as well, making it gluten-free—and since the batter contains so much egg, there’s no need to add the binders that gluten-free cakes often require.The flavorings:
Relative to the original cake, I increased the amount of vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. This way, they aren’t muted by the bold flavors of honey and date sugar.
A preview of what’s coming next to Formal Assignment: Extra-rich frozen yogurts. Starting with plain yogurt flavor and with Amarena cherry flavor. While I finalize the recipes, here’s a photo of the latter for now:
Finally, here are some recommendations for the week:
This clip, a segment about seahorses and seadragons (yes, “seadragons!”) from CBS Sunday Morning, might cheer you up.
John Early’s film Maddie’s Secret is’t for everyone, but if you’re into the twisted humor of, say, Strangers with Candy, it should have you laughing for the duration of its 98-minute runtime, not least for an absurd performance by Kate Berlant.
Rachel Roddy’s recipe in The Guardian for “baked fish and potatoes with oregano and lemon
mayonnaiseyogurt sauce” is simple and fantastic. (Since I’m not a mayo person, I just swapped in 35 grams of strained yogurt for the egg yolks.)The secret’s out: I love custard! I haven’t yet tried it (or any lattaiolo, for that matter), but Liz Prueitt’s recipe for jiggly, sliceable baked Italian custard has caught my eye and overtaken my fantasies this week.
Thank you for reading this. I hope you’ll try the recipe that follows! Take care.
Brian
*Formal Assignment P.S. is for paid subscribers. It’s less than $3 a month for an annual subscription. There are reduced annual fees available. Just ask!
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P.S. Recipe:
ALMOND, HONEY, DATE CAKE
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Gluten-free
This luscious cake, rich bronze in color, is redolent of caramel and toasted almonds, thanks to the inclusion of honey, date sugar, butter, brown rice flour and whole almonds, supported with almond extract and vanilla.
Because rice flour is gluten-free, there’s no risk of overdeveloping gluten, so the entire batter can be mixed in the food processor, start to finish.
If you’d prefer a cake slightly lighter in color, use blanched (skinless) almonds and white rice flour. If you don’t have a food processor (or don’t want to take one out of the cupboard), you can mix the batter in a bowl; just use the same amount of fine almond flour by weight in place of the whole almonds.
Makes one 9-inch round cake
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 1/2 hours (includes baking and cooling)
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INGREDIENTS:
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