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Apple & Almond Torte

This recipe comes from an article in the Washington Post, which reprinted Nigella Lawson’s Damp Apple and Almond Cake. I followed the recipe exactly except that I used olive oil to grease the pan rather than canola oil. Many Jews do not consider canola oil kosher for Passover, as it falls under the category of kitniyot.

Because this recipe uses almond flour as its base rather than cake or matzah meal, it doesn’t taste like a typical Passover cake, and that’s a good thing. This is a very easy recipe to make, though it tested the capacity of my Cuisinart, the user manual of which recommends only about 4 cups of liquid batter be processed at a time. I went over that recommendation, and barely made everything fit.

I’d recommend letting the cake cool for a half hour before releasing the springform pan (the recipes says 10 minutes). Also, make sure to run a knife around the edge of the pan before you remove it — I had a small issue with the edges falling away from the cake. Overall it held together nicely, though.

I found the flavor of this cake less intense than I expected. I would have liked to taste more almond, and I wonder if grinding the almonds myself (or toasting them first?) would have accomplished this. (I used Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour, which I found at Mrs. Green’s, our local Whole Foods-type market.)

Despite the absence of chocolate in this recipe, it went over well at our seder and those who liked it did not agree with my assessment of it being a little bland. I would make it again, for Passover or if I needed a gluten-free dessert.

Isn’t the single slice pretty, sitting on my mom’s Passover dishes? (more…)

3 Comments April 10, 2009