Showing posts with label Coffee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coffee. Show all posts

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Ellen Svinhufvud Almond Cake

Ellen Svinhufvud Almond Cake

I've never been so glad to have decided to keep a physical recipie file as when I came to make this cake earlier in the week. I made it a couple of years ago but had not tried again since as although it is not difficult it is sinfully rick and does require a bit of a time commitment to assemble. It came to mind again when I was thinking of something to bake for my father's birthday, he is on a low-carb diet so the traditional sponge was out. I went to the recipie folder on my laptop and could I find it? No. Printed recipies? Also no. I had already set my heart on making this recipie so began a google quest with permutations of 'Finland, court, cake, almond, egg white, cream, coffee etc...' just as I was ready to give up hope I had one last look in the file - and there it was, the pages had just been stuck together with the remenants of my last attempt at it.

So what do you get with this cake that I spent so long (unnessicarily) searching for? Its namesake is the wife of the third president of Finland who would serve this at her coffee evenings over a hundred years ago. It is a decadent combination of layers resembling giant macaroons sandwitched with whipped butter and cream flavoured iwth coffee and more ground almond and then coated in toasted flaked almonds. A small piece is enough to satisfy and it has a lovely chewiness to it from the slow cooked merangue layers. It is also a great gluten free option as it has no flour in it or for those who want something to satisfy a macaroon lover without having to baby dozens of neat little shells.

The recipie that I used (although I'm sure I found it on a different blog) is from here, however it isn't particularly clear and I had to use a bit of guess work as to what was needed basedon my experience making macaroons so I have expanded on it a bit to make it easier to follow.