Almond Cake With Cardamom and Pistachio

- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- ½cup vegetable oil, plus additional for pan
- 7large eggs, separated
- 1cup sugar
- 1tablespoon almond extract
- 4½cups plus 1 tablespoon/420 grams almond flour (see tip)
- 2teaspoons ground cardamom
- 1 to 2tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
- 3 to 4tablespoons finely chopped pistachio nuts, for garnish
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9-inch round or square pan and set aside. Using a stand mixer, whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry, and set aside.
- Step 2
In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar, and whisk to blend. Whisk in almond extract and oil. Add almond flour and cardamom. Gently stir a third of the whites into the batter, then gently fold in the rest until just incorporated.
- Step 3
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and finish cooling on a rack. To decorate, dust with confectioners’ sugar and chopped pistachios.
- If you want to grind your own almond flour, start with 3 cups nuts. Using a large food processor, pulse almonds until very finely ground, stirring once or twice to prevent them from turning into a paste.
Private Notes
Comments
No don't understand what I'm supposed to do with that 1 tablespoon of almond flour. Does it go in the batter with the 4-1/2 cups, is it scattered on top of the finished cake? If it's part of the batter, why the alternative of only 1 tablespoon of matzo meal? I'm confused...
This is a great cake but a couple of cautions: be prepared for a very stiff batter which makes for some heavy folding of the whites; in addition to oiling the pan, cut a circle of parchment paper or waxed paper to line the bottom and oil that too. Otherwise it can be difficult to get the cake out of the pan.
We made this for Easter Sunday dinner. Served it with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. It was fantastic!
A few changes to the recipe:
-Halved the cardamom. I like cardamom, but two teaspoons seemed a bit much. This was the right call. It ended up being subtle, but not overpowering.
-Used a little less than a tablespoon of almond extract, and added a teaspoon and a half of vanilla extract.
-Left in the oven for an hour and ten minutes.
We'll make it again!
Delicious. Instead of simply dusting the cake with confectioners sugar I brushed off most of the sugar & the iced this cake with the Tahini Cream Cheese Icing from Yotam Ottolenghi's Sesame Date & Banana Cake. Don't forget the pistachios (shelled are sometimes available at Costco & other stores, just store sealed in your refrigerator after opening)!
Really good. Don’t be afraid to really fold in egg whites. I was too careful, and some sections were dense/gooey because the egg whites weren’t fully incorporated. I reduced the almond extract as others suggested, which was the right call.
I have made this cake more than a dozen times. Every Passover and now for my gluten free friends and I love it. One change: since I have to transport it to someone's house and I was always worried about losing the pistachios on top, I added semi-sweet or dark chocolate with a few tablespoons of butter for a topping and then add SALTED pistachios, chopped roughly, on top. The bomb! People request it from me now.
