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Cake and amaretto, let’s go!

The general state of the US, the Republican National Convention, and bars closing down again in Ames has got me thinking about booze. A lot. 

Of course, now that I’m an old and immunocompromised, I haven’t seen the inside of a bar since I can’t remember when, but well enough before the pandemic hit Iowa that I can’t be sure of my last stop in my preferred ye olde saloon. The GOP, OTOH, is lately a constant source of making me think about the drink. (I thought about linking to separate articles for everything, but I don’t need the higher blood pressure or swollen liver.)

But I’m a baker at heart, and I have a blog to do, so I turned to my old favorite cookbook of “Booze Cakes” to find the perfect recipe for this week. 

Amaretto cake ingredients.

Though there are many wonderful recipes, few work in a little 9-inch skillet, and I’ve already made one this year. 

I’ll admit to some initial skepticism about the amaretto cake. It was simple but not necessarily my idea of a great cake. I’ve never been happier to concede I was wrong. 

I loved it. I loved it a lot. 

I had an inkling it might be good when the mixture yielded a wonderfully spongy batter; I was a little more concerned when to cook it through the top was rather darkened. By the time I used my silicone spatula to loosen the cake from my Le Creuset and turn it onto a large plate, I was sold. 

The topping of a boozy glaze (amaretto simmered with apricot jam!) and some toasted almond slices only made it better. 

It also had the benefit of being a simple boozy cake. Just one layer. Mixed in a stand mixer. A simple glaze. Simmered for just a few minutes (a little longer for me because I was convinced the apricot pieces were just jelly that hadn’t broken down rather than the obvious pieces of fruit that they were). 

All in all, a pretty great way to spend a bit of time away from news and in the comfort of a kitchen. 

Pretty, tasty, pretty tasty.

Here’s what I did, sticking to the recipe: 

Ingredients 

For the cake:

  • ¾ c. (1 ½ stick) unsalted butter
  • ¾ c. sugar
  • 1 (7 oz.) tube almond paste
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • ¼ c. amaretto liqueur 
  • 1 t. vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 t. baking powder

For the amaretto glaze: 

  • 2 T. apricot jam
  • ¼ c. amaretto liqueur

For finishing: 

  • ¼ to ½ c. sliced almonds, toasted
  • Confectioners’ sugar, to desired level

Directions 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch coated skillet (or springform cake pan if you’re traditional). 

For the cake, in a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar 3 to 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Mix in almond paste, orange and lemon zests, amaretto, and vanilla. Beat in eggs, flour, and baking powder. Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 45 minutes, or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool. 

For the glaze, in a saucepan over low heat, stir jam and amaretto together until smooth. 

To finish, Unmold the cake onto a large plate or serving dish, pour glaze over the top. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. Enjoy, perhaps even with an amaretto sour!

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You’ll love a Yule log for Christmas

Long before I called a sheet pan a sheet pan, it was a jelly roll pan. I think it almost certainly stems from my mom making a Yule log regularly throughout my childhood.

Yule log ingredients.

I had no idea why my mom made the Christmas cake annually or what a log has to do with Christmas, and a quick perusal of Wikipedia doesn’t offer any clear answers to the latter.

Mom tells me she started making it for her dad, my Papa, and he liked it so much, she kept doing it. Wikipedia also says the cake originated in the region that includes his ancestral home of Belgium, but apparently that’s a coincidence.

Which is fair, it’s just a damn good cake.

The Yule log, also called a buche de Noel, has few ingredients but they’re used to make three separate parts that make it time-consuming if not difficult. There’s the eggy chocolate cake. There’s the vanilla cream filling. There’s the mocha buttercream frosting. And then, there’s the assembly.

Despite the difficulty, though, my sweetie rightly describes it as similar but easier tiramisu.

And besides, it’s a Christmas cake, so you make it just once a year. That makes it totally worth it.

A cake so good I’m disappointed Christmas comes once a year.

Here’s what I did following Mom’s recipe:

Ingredients

Cake

  • 5 eggs, separated
  • 2/3 c. sugar
  • 3 T. unsweetened cocoa
  • 2 T. flour, plus more for sheet pan

Filling

  • 1 c. heavy cream
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • 1 T. confectioner’s sugar

Mocha buttercream frosting

  • 1 c. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing sheet pan
  • 1/2 confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 T. unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 T. instant coffee
  • 1 t. warm water

To finish

  • Confectioner’s sugar
  • 2 T. finely-chopped pistachio nuts

Directions

Cake

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 15 x 10 x 1 inch jelly roll (sheet) pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Grease and lightly flour paper, tapping off excess flour.

Beat egg whites in a small bowl until soft peaks form.

Separately, beat egg yolks in a large bowl at high speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until mixture is thick and pale in color. Beat in cocoa and flour at low speed.

Fold beaten egg whites into yolk mixture until no streaks of white remain.

Spread batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven when cake springs back to a light touch

Let cool completely on a wire rack before removing from the pan.

Mocha buttercream frosting

While cake bakes, prepare the frosting. Beat the softened butter until fluffy in a small bowl. Beat in sugar and cocoa.

Dissolve coffee in water, and beat into butter mixture.

Store in cool (but not cold) place as you don’t want the butter to melt, but you don’t want the frosting to get too solid to spread.

Filling

When cake is cool, remove it from the pan by inverting onto a towel or *carefully* lifting using parchment paper.

Cut off 1/2 to 1 inch from the edges of all four sides of the cake (to remove the crunchier bits) and reserve for later use.

Beat heavy cream until thickened. Add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla. Continue beating until stiff enough to spread.

Spread mixture evenly across the cake. Roll up the cake, starting with one of the shorter sides. Place cake roll seam-side down on a serving tray.

Finishing

Frost the cake roll all over (including ends) with the mocha buttercream frosting. Roll up some or all of the reserved cake ends and set onto the frosted cake (these are supposed to look like cut-off branches). Frost these well.

Run a fork across the frosted cake to mimic bark lines. Use the fork to create the same lines along the sides of the “branches” to create “age rings” in the center of these “branches.”

Press some of the chopped pistachios into the “cut” ends of the log (ends and the circular “branches) to mimic some moss/lichens.

Dust with confectioner’s sugar (to mimic dusting of snow). Enjoy and Merry Christmas/happy holidays to all who celebrate the season.