Marsala Walnut Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet. Line the bottom with parchment paper, allowing it to extend slightly over the short sides. Butter paper, and set sheet aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg yolks on medium speed until light, about 4 minutes. Gradually add sugar, and beat until thick and creamy, about 3 more minutes. Stir in vanilla extract.
• Into a small bowl, sift flour with baking powder and salt. With machine running, gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture. Beat just until smooth.
• Place egg whites in the clean bowl of an electric mixer. Whisk egg whites on medium speed until they are stiff but not dry, about 3 minutes. Fold a third of stiffened egg whites into batter to lighten; then gently fold in remaining whites, being careful not to flatten batter by overmixing. Lightly fold in walnuts.
• Spread the batter evenly on prepared pan, covering all corners. Bake about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and loosen edges of cake with a knife. Invert the pan onto a clean towel that has been liberally dusted with confectioners? sugar. Peel off parchment paper. With a serrated knife, trim about 1/2 inch of the browned and hardened edges off cake.
• Using a brush, soak warm cake with Marsala or sherry, and spread the jam evenly on top. Starting from one of the shorter sides, carefully roll the cake gently but firmly. Place rolled cake on a serving platter, seam side down, and dust with more confectioners' sugar. When ready to serve, use a serrated knife to slice roll into 1-inch-thick servings.

Steps:

• Brown the butter: Melt the 9 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling it occasionally. As it melts, the butter will sizzle and foam. Continue cooking until the foam dissolves and the solids turn golden brown, about 5 minutes. (If the butter is spattering too much, reduce the heat a bit, and watch carefully to make sure it doesn't burn.) Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.
• Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square cake pan with butter, line it with parchment, then grease the parchment.
• Hull the strawberries and slice them lengthwise, 1/4-inch thick. Toss them in a bowl with 2 tablespoons superfine sugar and set aside while you prepare the batter. (If strawberries aren't in season and yours are underripe or less sweet than they should be, you may want to add 1 to 2 additional teaspoons superfine sugar.)
• In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and 5 tablespoons superfine sugar together until pale. Whisk in the browned butter (scraping to include the solids, if you like), then whisk in the Marsala until incorporated. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Sift over the batter and gently whisk to combine, smoothing out the lumps as best as you can.
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the wire whip on medium speed, or an electric beater, or simply a whisk and a bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining 5 tablespoons superfine sugar while beating to form a shiny meringue with stiff peaks, 5 to 7 minutes. Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue mixture into the batter, followed by the rest, then fold in the strawberries, using a slotted spoon to add the berries to the batter, leaving any strawberry juices behind.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the top is golden and the cake is springy to the touch, 30 to 33 minutes.
• Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve right away with some freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Steps:

• 1 Place the rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 × 2-inch round baking pan. 2 In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 3 In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs until foamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until thick and pale yellow. Beat in the oil and Marsala. Fold in the dry ingredients until blended. Stir in the walnuts. 4 Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 40 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 5 Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and let cool completely. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar before serving. Store covered with an inverted bowl at room temperature up to 3 days. From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter, shortening and granulated sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk and vanilla. Beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in ground walnuts. , Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , For frosting, beat cream cheese and butter. Add confectioners' sugar; mix well. Beat in vanilla until smooth. Spread frosting between layers and over the top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with walnuts. Refrigerate.