Walnut Cake

Walnut Cake (Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed., pg. 40) and Maida Heatter's Book of Great American Desserts, Knopf, 1985, pg. 129. 

There are many walnut cakes sprinkled throughout Maida's books. My favorite so far has been the Small Walnut Torte but this one may surpass. The Apricot and Walnut Applesauce Cake was also good although the walnuts are secondary in that one. There are various other true walnut cakes, some made with whole wheat flour, another one a combination of wheat and plain flour and this one, which is made with just all-purpose flour.

The cake is very grainy and the nutty exterior is delicious. This is one of those cakes where the flavor creeps up on you. You take a bite and don't think much about it but then you take another bite and another...

This is one is delicious with your morning coffee!

2 1/2 cups walnuts
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mace or nutmeg
8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 TBS plus 2 tsp brandy
2 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs

Preheat oven to 325. Butter a 9-cup capacity or larger bundt pan thoroughly with soft butter.

In a food processor, place 1 cup of the walnuts (reserving the remaining 1.5 cups) and process for 8-10 seconds. You should have a mixture of finely ground and slightly chopped nuts.

 

Transfer the nuts to the prepared pan. Turn the pan upside down over a piece of paper to catch the loose crumbs and reapply. Be sure to cover the inner tube, you will have to do this by hand. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of the crumbs to sprinkle over the top of the cake.

Place the remaining 1.5 cups of nuts in the food processor and process 5 or 6 times. You will have larger chopped pieces this time.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg (or mace). Set aside.

Beat the butter until it is soft. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and the brandy. You may need to use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the mixer bowl.

 

Add the sugar and beat for about 1 minutes (do not overbeat).

 

Add eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl as necessary. Beat for 1 minute and then add the dry ingredients until just blended.

 

Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and stir in the nuts

 

Transfer the batter to the pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the top with the 2 tablespoons of nuts you reserved earlier.

 

 

Bake until cake tester comes out clean. For me, it was done in 75 minutes. Maida says 1 hour and 45 minutes but I think that would be way too long. After 1 hour and 10 minutes, I would start checking.

Let the cake stand in the pan about 30 minutes before turning it out and then allow to completely cool. Chill in the freezer or refrigerator before slicing. Use a sharp knife if the cake is frozen (it cuts beautifully) or use a serrated bread knife is the cake is room temperature.

Chocolate Almond Sp-icebox Cookies

 

Chocolate Almond Sp-icebox Cookies (Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 126.

Here's a nice cookie for Christmas. It is loaded with spices but not overly spicy in taste. You can make the dough and freeze it ahead of time if you prefer which is what I did. The cookies are crisp but when you bite into them, they are softer than you'd expect. The texture is similar to shortbread.

I should have taken more time with forming the dough. My cookies are uneven but that does not affect the taste.

 1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. instant espresso or instant coffee
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. dry mustard
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/4 lb. (1 stick) sweet butter (softened)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 1/2 oz. thinly sliced almonds (blanched or unblanced)

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. 

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or microwave) and allow to cool.

Cream the butter. Add the sugar and mix well -

Add the egg - 

Add the melted chocolate -

Add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl and beaters as needed -

 

 

Stir in the almonds -

 

Form the dough into an oblong strip about 12 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide. Wrap in wax paper and freeze for several hours until firm. You can also freeze it and make it later -

 

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375.  Line a cookie sheet. Slice the cookies about 1/4 inch thick (let the dough thaw a little for best results). Place the cookies 1 inch apart on the pan.

Bake 10-11 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Ethiopian Truffles

 

Ethiopian Truffles
Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.), pg. 291.

I don't know where the name originated but these macaroon-like cookies are delicious and fun to make. A pastry dough is wrapped around a mixture of almonds and chocolate. There is a distinct almond flavor from almond extract as well. 

This recipe appears in her first book and the baking temperature is not noted. After doing a search, I found the recipe online which stated 375 as the temperature. However, they thought that was too much and reduced it to 325. I decided to take the middle route and baked them at 350. It took a long time and I was beginning to think they would never begin to brown. So, 375 sounds right to me. She does say to use double baking sheets to keep the bottom of the cookies from burning (an insulated cooking sheet might work as well).

 

Pastry

4 oz (1 stick) butter
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour 

Line an insulated baking pan (or use two stacked pans) with parchment paper and set aside.

Beat the butter until softened. Add the vanilla, sugar and salt and mix. Add the flour and beat until incorporated. 

Form the dough into an oblong shape and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

 Black Truffles

4 oz. (3/4 cup) blanched almonds
4 oz. semisweet chocolate
3 TBS. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 egg white

In a food processor, finely chop the almonds, chocolate and sugar (30 seconds - 1 minute).

 

With the processor running, add the vanilla and almond extracts and the egg white.

 

Transfer the mixture to a work surface and shape it into an oblong tube shape.

 

Cut into twenty pieces and roll into balls.

 

Retrieve the dough from the refrigerator and cut it into 20 pieces. Roll each piece and flatten it. Although the recipes says to do this with your hand, I had better success with a rolling pin. To do this, place the dough on a piece of wax paper and cover with another piece of paper. Gently roll the pieces until flattened. Use a spatula to lift them if they stick.

 

Place a ball of the filling on the dough. Use your finger to shape the dough around the filling. It does not have to cover the filling completely and will be more attractive if you can see both the dough and filling.

Roll them into a smooth ball and place on the cookie sheet about 1" apart.  Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes before baking.

Bake at 375  for 20 minutes or until the dough is lightly colored. Transfer to a rack to cool. After they have cooled, sprinkle with confectioners sugar if desired.