All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [23]
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition.
6. Whisk in the salt and extracts.
7. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the flour.
8. Fold in the melted butter.
NEW TECHNIQUE
FOLDING
Folding is fun, once you learn how to do it properly. This is not stirring, NO NO NO. You’ll need to master this for future recipes, using melted butter or egg whites. I learned how to do this from reading Carole Walter’s book Great Cakes.
Why fold? When you’re combining two things that have different densities (creamed batter and egg whites, for instance), folding ensures that you’re blending them together without deflating the egg whites.
Huh, what?
Just like beating your batter, whisking your egg whites introduces air into your recipe. When folding, we’re trying to combine the heavier batter with the lighter egg whites and avoid losing that air. Folding is also handy when you want to avoid overmixing: you may want to use it when adding chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, or in this case, melted butter to the aerated batter.
Here’s how Carole Walter teaches you to fold: Start with a small amount of what you’re adding to the batter, say ¼ or ⅓ a cup. Then hold a rubber spatula with the curved edge away from you and cut down through the center of the batter. Move the spatula toward you under the batter, running it along the bottom of the bowl, then up the side of the bowl until the spatula is out of the batter.
Flip the spatula back into its starting position: center of the bowl, curved edge away. With your other hand, rotate the bowl, yes, the bowl, slowly, as you continue to repeat the folding motion with the spatula. Run the spatula around the sides of the bowl every so often.
After one or two full rotations, add the rest of the melted butter, the egg whites, or whatever you’re folding in, and repeat. It may take several more full rotations before the folding is done. You’ll know, because the batter will be evenly mixed and your arm will be very tired.
9. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the spatula.
10. Scatter the toasted almonds over the batter and sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of sugar.
11. Center the cake pan on the oven rack and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick or thin knife inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
12. Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake. You can serve it in the warm pan, or unmold (see page 28) and serve on a plate.
I’d been working at ATC for about a year when Dorie Greenspan’s book Baking: From My Home to Yours showed up in my mailbox; it was sent by a publicist hoping for an interview on the show. Our host Michele Norris had a copy, too, and after I did a pre-interview with Dorie via cell phone, we booked her to talk about holiday baking.
And we fell in love with her. Dorie is adorable: a baking pixie, who’s full of great ideas, sage advice, and endless patience. After that one interview, Michele invited her back as a semiregular guest. Together, we and our listeners have learned to bake rugelach, a variation of Katharine Hepburn’s brownies, and figgy pudding.
Dorie’s books are just as fun and reassuring as she is. It was the first time since I’d started the Cake Project that I’d come across an author who I felt was holding my hand, not talking down to me. I’ve baked about two-thirds of the recipes in Baking, and all of them have been excellent.
This is one of my favorites. Along with my grandmother’s sour cream pound cake (page 17), this Swedish visiting cake has become a “satisfies everyone” standby. In fact, it tastes like a Nordic relative of the sour cream pound cake, but it’s more almondy than tangy. And it’s quick and easy: you don’t even need to plug in the mixer.
As Dorie explains, the story behind it is that you could start making the cake when you saw guests coming up the road and it would be ready