Almond Kirsch Cake Recipes

Steps:

• For cake, preheat oven to 325 °F.
• Grease and line a 10-inch cake pan with parchment paper. Grease again and dust with flour, tapping out excess.
• Pulse marzipan, butter and sugar in a food processor until smooth.
• Add eggs, kirsch and vanilla and purée on high until smooth (scraping into the bottom of the bowl, if needed).
• Scrape batter into a bowl and stir in flour in two additions.
• Scrape into prepared pan and bake for 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Cool completely in the pan.
• For meringue layer, reduce oven temperature to 250 °F and line bottom of a 10-inch spring form pan with parchment.
• Pulse 1/3 cup sugar and almonds in food processor until ground.
• Toss with cornstarch and set aside.
• Whip egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy, then add remaining 1/3 cup sugar and whip until a stiff peak forms.
• Quickly but gently fold in ground nuts and spread evenly into prepared pan.
• Bake for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until dry.
• Run a spatula around edge of pan to loosen meringue, cool completely.
• For Kirsch cream, whip cream to medium peaks, and whip in icing sugar and Kirsch.
• To assemble, slice marzipan cake in half.
• Spread 1 cup of Kirsch cream over cake and sprinkle with ½ cup of cherries.
• Place meringue disk on top and spread with another cup of cream and ½ cup of cherries.
• Top with other half of marzipan cake and spread remaining cream, topped with cherries.
• Chill until ready to serve.
• Cake can be assembled up to 4 hours in advance.

Steps:

• Make cake:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch square cake pan and line bottom with parchment or wax paper. Butter paper and dust pan with flour, knocking out excess.
• Whisk together yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, milk, and extract in a large bowl until combined well, then whisk in flour and salt.
• Beat whites with an electric mixer at high speed until they just hold soft peaks. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, mixing at low speed until whites just hold stiff peaks. Stir about one third of whites into batter to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.
• Pour batter into cake pan, spreading evenly, and bake in middle of oven until pale golden and a tester comes out clean, 14 to 16 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on a rack.
• Make sugared cherries while cake bakes:
• Whisk together powdered egg whites and warm water in a small bowl until combined well. Put superfine sugar in another small bowl.
• Holding 1 cherry by stem, brush evenly with some egg white and spoon sugar over it to coat. Transfer to a rack to dry and coat remaining cherries in same manner.
• Make kirsch cream:
• Beat cream with kirsch and sugar using cleaned beaters until it holds stiff peaks.
• Assemble cakes just before serving:
• Cut out 20 rounds from cake with cookie cutter and transfer to a platter. Top each round with a teaspoon of kirsch cream, then top cream with a cherry.

Steps:

• Make cake:
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter pan generously and dust with flour, knocking out excess.
• Break almond paste into pieces and pulse in a food processor until finely ground. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and very fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add almond paste and vanilla and beat until combined well, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and occasionally scraping down side of bowl. Add flour mixture and mix at low speed 30 seconds. Finish mixing batter by hand with a rubber spatula, scraping bottom of bowl.
• Pour batter into tube pan, smoothing top. Bake in middle of oven, rotating pan halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean and edges begin to pull away from pan, 55 minutes to 1 hour total.
• Cool cake completely in pan on a rack. (Cake may shrink and buckle slightly, but don't worry. This won't be visible once cake is inverted.) Run a thin knife around outside and inside edges and invert a plate over pan, then invert cake onto plate.
• Make kirsch cream:
• Just before serving, beat together cream and kirsch in a chilled bowl with cleaned beaters until soft peaks form.
• Serve cake with kirsch cream and lingonberry preserves.

Steps:

• Butter two 20cm loose-bottomed round sandwich tins and line with baking parchment. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 4. Tip the butter and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat for 10 mins, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt and the milk. Spoon the batter into the prepared tins and bake in the centre of the oven for 22-25 mins, or until risen and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for 5 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Put the cherries, vanilla, sugar, lemon juice and kirsch or liqueur (if using) in a pan and bring to a simmer over a low heat. Cook for 5 mins, turn up the heat to medium and cook for 5-7 mins more until the liquid becomes syrupy. If the cherries are softened but the liquid isn't yet syrupy, strain the liquid into a separate pan and simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
• Beat the cream and icing sugar together using an electric whisk until the cream has thickened, then fold in the custard and chill for 1 hr.
• Put one of the sponges on a cake plate or stand and spread over the custard cream. Spoon over the cherries, then top with the second sponge. Dust with more icing sugar and serve immediately. Leftovers will keep chilled for two days and are best served at room temperature.

Steps:

• Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 425°F.
• Oil 2 large baking sheets and dust with flour, knocking off excess. Trace 2 (8-inch) rounds on each baking sheet with a fingertip, using an inverted plate or a saucepan lid as a guide.
• Whisk together flour and granulated sugar in a small bowl. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt in a bowl using an electric mixer at medium-high speed until they just hold stiff peaks. Fold in sugar mixture gently but thoroughly, then fold in nuts. Divide meringue among circles, spreading to fill in circles thinly and evenly.
• Bake meringues in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes total (meringue will be soft). Loosen meringue rounds with a large metal spatula and transfer to racks to cool.
• While meringues cool, heat chocolate, water, and coffee in a small heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring until smooth. Cool to lukewarm, then spread chocolate evenly over tops of meringue rounds. Cool at room temperature until chocolate is set, about 3 hours.
• Beat cream with confectioners sugar and kirsch in a bowl with cleaned beaters until it holds stiff peaks. Arrange 1 meringue round, chocolate side up, on a cake stand or plate, then spread 1/3 cup whipped cream over it. Top with a second round and spread with 1/3 cup whipped cream. Repeat, then top with remaining meringue round. Frost top and side of torte with remaining whipped cream.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the cake: Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Whisk together cocoa and boiling water until cocoa dissolves and mixture is smooth. Stir in kirsch.
• Beat butter and 1 cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, 1 at a time, scraping down sides of bowl between additions. Add cocoa mixture and almonds, and beat until combined. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Whisk egg whites and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the clean bowl of a mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With machine running, add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and whisk until stiff peaks form. Fold one-quarter of the whites into batter, then fold in remaining whites.
• Pour batter into pan, and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and cover cake with parchment-lined foil. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for 45 minutes. Run a knife or an offset spatula around edge of cake to loosen, and release sides of pan to remove.
• Make the meringue: Whisk egg whites and sugar in a clean heatproof bowl of a mixer set over a pan of simmering water until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Whisk on medium speed until soft peaks form. Whisk in kirsch. Whisk until stiff peaks form.
• Spread cherry preserves on top of cake. Spread meringue over preserves using an offset spatula, making decorative swirls. Caramelize peaks of meringue using a handheld kitchen torch or under the broiler.