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Almond Cake With Cardamom and Pistachio
![Almond Cake With Cardamom and Pistachio](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/03/21/dining/21COOKING_ALMONDCAKE1/21COOKING_ALMONDCAKE1-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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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
Cooking Notes
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!
I added a tsp of Rose Water, next time I will add 2. I used the full 2 tsps of cardamon and recommend not reducing it. I added 2 tsp of orange zest. This gave another layer of flavor to the cake. I really recommend the orange. It complements the cardamom well as well as the rose water. The tbls of almond gives it a strong almond flavor, if you want less, try 2 tsp. When adding the egg whites, add 1 cup first to moisten the very thick batter, then add 1/3 and balance. Serve with berries
Yes! We have edited the recipe to reflect that change.
The receipt must have been converted from metric to standard. In fact all you need is two cups of almond flour--not the four and half the receipt calls for.
I have made this twice. I replace 1 & 1/2 cup of the total almond flour with same amount of coarsely ground pistachios. I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup and the oil to 1/3 cup (I use EV olive oil). 2 tsp almond extract and 2 tsp vanilla. Mixing in the egg whites is a workout. Big spoon for the first third. Lighter touch for the second third. Fold in the last third. Nice and airy. Really excellent cake.
It goes with the rest of the flour. 4 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon is the American equivalent of 420 grams.
This is a great cake and the recipe is easy to follow. Important note: as others have mentioned, before folding in the egg whites you’ll have more a heavy dough than batter. It’s very dense. Don’t worry though, you just need to fold the egg whites in until they’re nicely incorporated. In the end it will resemble a batter and you can’t really overwork — there’s no gluten in almond flour. As long as you preserve the aeration the cake will turn out great.
Lovely cake. Not too sweet, and very elegant looking. Made it as written, with the addition of a teaspoon of kosher salt. Seeing the notes about the difficulty of incorporating the egg whites, I did the whole thing in the bowl of my stand mixer. I first whipped the whites, then removed them to another bowl and replaced with the egg yolks, sugar, almond flour, etc. Switched from the whisk to the paddle attachment to incorporate the whites. Poured into cake pan. Easy peasy.
This is an awesome recipe--have made it twice, once for Lutheran potluck! Got many requests for the recipe. It's paleo too, so put this at the top of the recipe box when you are looking for a dessert that will make everyone swoon. Use all the cardamom. I too attracted teenagers from their rooms smelling the baking aromas...
I can confirm that this recipe works with the full 4.5 cups almond flour. It's to be expected that the batter gets so stiff: after all you are basically making glue between the egg yolks and flour! While it is a bit tough to fold in the egg whites, keep going! and incorporate slowly. Afterwards, the batter has the appropriate texture and weight for a spongey cake, and comes out light and not too sweet. I thought it was great. Served with whipped cream and raspberries.
I clipped the original recipe that was in the paper several years ago. That version had 1 tablespoon matzo meal, and called for 3 cups whole almonds, which you food processed into almond flour (this was before almond flour was common in grocery stores) which resulted in about 2.5 cups of flour once you ground it down. It looks like there may have been some edit mistakes for the update.
Subbed canola oil for vegetable. Used about 1/4 tsp less cardamom. Used a parchment round in my springform. Made a glaze with 1.5 cups confectioners sugar, 1 tablespoon rosewater and enough whole milk for a thickish glaze...10 sec in microwave to thin, poured atop cake, then sprinkled w chopped pistachio and crushed freeze dried raspberries. Result was a gorgeous cake that was a big hit with my friends, their 2 year old and my sweets-averse husband.
To make this 100% gluten free, I substituted 1 tablespoon organic coconut flour for the 1 tablespoon matzo meal.
This cake was out of this world and a hit with everyone at my seder!
Should the cake be made with two or 4 cups of flour?
Made (mostly) as directed and I have a few recommendations: use parchment paper on the bottom of the pan if you hope to remove it cleanly from the pan. I didn't, and half the cake stuck to the bottom. I baked it for 44 minutes and it was a bit over done. I would start checking at 40 minutes next time. I used the full amount of almond extract and cardamom, plus a splash of vanilla extract, and it was lightly flavored and should taste excellent served with whipped cream and peaches.
Made as directed and it was excellent.
Bake 5 minutes less and double the almond extract.
Good and relatively easy. Keep an eye on it—mine was done in just under 45 minutes. I find almond extract overpowering and regret not halving the amount.
I used one of those Danish dough whisks to incorporate the egg whites - not exactly "folding," but it seemed to make an easier job of it.
I made adjustments to this recipe based on the comments: a little less than 1 Tablespoon almond extract and half teaspoon of vanilla extract. Then added only 1 teaspoon of cardamom. I would have upped the cardamom next time but other than that, this cake was absolutely delicious and was a hit. Made whipped cream cheese frosting to go on top since I made this for a friends birthday and wanted it to be more ceremonial. Chefs kiss.
I made this yesterday for company - it was delicious! Very simple to pull together. I was worried from the comments that it might be dry so I made a simple syrup flavored with almond extract. The cake was moist without it but it was a nice drizzle.
My revisions…. 2 tsp almond extract 1tsp vanilla extract Substituted olive oil for vegetable oil Added one tablespoon rose water Added an additional egg to the almond flour mixture Used stand mixer for the eggs, almond flour and first 1/3 of egg whites Turned out great, served with rhubarb compote and whipped cream. For more of a cardamom flavor, I would grind the seed fairly corse instead of using pre-ground cardamom.
Incredible. A favorite for those with and without dietary restrictions. Didn’t need to bake as long as the recipe states
Not amazing, kind of boring. I followed the recipe as written but added lemon zest. I was afraid it was going to be dry because the batter was so stiff, and it came out of the oven looking like corn bread. It's not dry, but it is dense like cornbread. It's not bad. Some people might like it. I would not serve this to guests, hence I would not serve this for Passover.
Loved the rose water idea some of the other readers suggested. Also used a floral virgin olive oil instead of vegetable oil, which gave it a nice grassy touch and deepened the cardamom. Might try a blood orange olive oil a friend gifted me next time I make it. 5/5 recipe, especially when served with freshly whipped cream!
Delicious cake. Line the bottom of cake pan with parchment as it can stick to pan.
Yum! I thought this was better the second day, really moist with nice almond flavor. I thought the cardamom might be overwhelming, but actually found it fairly subtle. Based on other's notes, I added orange zest to the batter. I forgot about the oil until I had already mixed in the egg whites - I added it anyways at the end and it still came out fine.
This is a perfect cake for a gluten and dairy intolerant friend for birthday party. I used only 3.5 cups of almond flour. Only change I made. Excellent and easy.
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