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Lemon-Almond Butter Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
  • Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
  • 3/4 C. plus 2 T. sugar
  • 4 extra-large eggs
  • 6 T. unsalted butter cubed
  • For the Cake
  • 9 T. unsalted butter softened
  • 1 C. plus 1 T. flour
  • 1 C. plus 1 to 2 T. sugar
  • 1 t. baking powder
  • 1/2 t. kosher salt
  • 2 extra-large eggs
  • 1/2 C. ground toasted almonds I used almond flour
  • 2 T. toasted sliced almonds
  • Heavy cream to garnish optional
  • 1 T. almond liqueur optional
Instructions
  1. To make the curd, combine zest, juice, sugar and eggs in an heatproof bowl and beat well. Add butter cubes. (I used the ceramic insert in my double boiler.)
  2. Put water into the bottom of a double boiler or a regular sauce pan, heat the water to simmering, and place the glass bowl (or double boiler top) over the simmering water. Cook your curd batter until the butter melts and the batter thickens into curd. You will need to stir it constantly with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon until this happens. This will take from 5-10 minutes. Strain the thickened curd into a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap making sure the plastic touches the surface of the curd to keep a skin from forming on top of the curd. Refrigerate the curd until it is cool (at least 1 1/2 hours).
  3. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9-inch spring-form pan by greasing it with 1 tablespoon of butter. Dust the pan with 1 T. of flour, shaking off the excess.
  4. Put the remaining butter and 1 cup of sugar into the bowl of your standing mixer and cream the butter and sugar until they are fluffy. In another bowl, sift the remaining flour, baking powder and salt together. Stir this sifted mixture into the butter/sugar mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs until they start to foam being careful not to overbeat. If you overbeat the eggs, your cake will be tough. Add the eggs and the ground almonds to the batter and mix well. Spoon this batter into your prepared pan.
  5. Drop 8 individual tablespoons of lemon curd around the perimeter of the batter. You will want to leave a 1-inch border. Take your time and be sure to space the drops as evenly as possible. Then, drop 3 to 4 tablespoons of curd into the center of the batter. (You won't use all the curd. Refrigerate it for another use.)
  6. Sprinkle the cake with toasted almonds and 1-2 tablespoons of sugar (or to your taste.)
  7. Bake the cake until it is a nice brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the cake (not the curd) comes out clean This will take about 40 minutes.
  8. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a rack for about 10 minutes. Then remove the sides of the pan and let it cool completly.
  9. Serve plain or with spoonful of almond-liqueur flavored whipped cream. I found that this cake was at its best on days 2 and 3.