courtesy of the Rose Bakery - Paris
Serves: 4 people. Preparation time: 1½ hours.
- 1½ C. All Purpose Flour
- 1 C. Almond Flour
- 1¼ C. White Sugar
- 1½ t. Baking Powder
- 4 Large Eggs (Room Temperature)
- 2 t. Vanilla Extract
- 2 T. Grated Lemon Zest
- 3 T. Lemon Juice
- 1 t. Kosher Salt
- 3 T. Sliced Almonds
- 1¾ Softened Sticks (7 oz.) Salted Butter
- Non-stick Spray
• Pre-heat the oven to 325°F. Slice the Softened Butter into 14 pieces of ½ oz. each. Coat a 9x5 inch loaf pan with Cooking Spray and dust with Flour. Tap out the excess. In a bowl, beat the Eggs and Extract together.
• In a mixer with a paddle, blend the Lemon Zest with just 1 C. of Sugar on low for about 1 minute. Add both Flours, Baking Powder and Salt and mix for 10 seconds. Add the Butter, one piece at a time. Continue mixing on low about 1-2 minutes more. Add the Egg mixture slowly and mix for 10 seconds more. Move to medium speed and beat until it's fluffy (1-1½ minutes). Scrape the bowl occasionally.
• Transfer the batter to the pan and smooth out the top surface. Sprinkle with the Sliced Almonds. Bake for 45 minutes and reduce the temperature to 300°F. Continue baking about 30-35 minutes more until a toothpick comes out clean. Avoid jostling the cake while baking.
• While the cake is baking, in a saucepan over medium heat, mix the remaining ¼ cup of Sugar with 2 T. of Lemon Juice, stirring often until the Sugar dissolves and starts to simmer. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining 1 T of Lemon Juice.
• When the cake is done, cool the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack, and turn it over again to crown up. With a toothpick, poke small holes in the upper surface at 1-inch intervals avoiding the Almonds. Brush all of the Lemon-Sugar Syrup onto the cake. Cool completely (about 2 hours) before cutting and serving.
"Rose Bakery" - Rose Carrarini opened her first bakery in Paris at 46 rue des Martyrs in 2002. Now there are 3 more in the French capital city, plus 1 in London, 1 in Hong Kong, 2 in Seoul, 5 in Tokyo and now 1 in New York The City, at the Dover Street Market (160 Lexington Ave.). She's even written 2 cookbooks. Not bad for a Brit-born expat living in Paris!
