Three Courses from Cocina Nueva (Part 3) - The Nutty Professor

Rabbit food. At some point in my life, I adored eating muesli, nuts, cereals and could have them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At that time, I felt that it was quick to prepare (what preparation??), filling, and was available in a huge array of flavours (right.). That's when friends used to tease me about surviving on 'rabbit food'. Thank goodness I'm over all that now. But while I'm pretty much sick of muesli and cereals for perhaps the rest of my life, I've never quite lost my adoration for nuts.

Macadamia nuts, Hazelnuts, Cashew nuts, Brazil nuts, Almonds and Peanuts are my top five favourites in decreasing order of preference. The bottom line really is, that I love nuts in all its form, even naked - unroasted, unsalted.

So when flipping through the dessert section in Jane Lawson's Cocina Nueva, in light of my profession of love for nuts, it should be no surprise that I flagged the Almond Cake recipe. I decided to attempt this cake for the Sunday lunch with Val and Addy because the recipe sounded quick enough to complete in the limited time I had left. And I'm mighty glad I did, as everyone who tried it, loved it.

It was incredibly soft, moist and fluffy, with slightly crunchy caramelised mahogany exteriors. Since I had a whole bag of roasted ground peanuts lying around, I decided to substitute half of the almond powder with peanut powder, resulting in something perhaps a little more aromatic and strong flavoured than otherwise. It was truly proof that the most simplest of dishes can still be out of this world.

In fact, I was so satisfied with the outcome that I made it again today to share with some friends from my previous work place. This time, adding mandarin orange zest instead of zest of a Sunkist orange, and using only peanut powder rather than a combination of both. The texture remained but it took on a slightly tanner shade while the flavour was decidedly more oriental, for lack of a better word. Truth be told, it reminded me a little of one of my favourite snacks, Min Chiang Kuey (Peanut Pancake). The mandarin orange zest was really haunting, there but not quite there - a flavour that is so familiar yet exceedingly difficult to pinpoint for the untrained palate.

This won't be the last I attempt anything from this cookbook, as I've fallen head over heels in love with it. Three attempts and already a perfect record of three successes. Simply prepared, delicious and still gorgeous food - that just about sums up the recipes from this cookbook.

Almond and Peanut Cake

Adapted from Jane Lawson's Cocina Nueva

Ingredients

250g cold butter, cut into cubes

1 tsp vanilla extract

Zest of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 mandarin orange

310g icing sugar, sifted

4 egg yolks

125ml milk

200g almond powder

200g peanut powder

4 egg whites

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.

Cream butter, vanilla, lemon zest, orange zest and 250g icing sugar with an electric mixer until creamy and pale.

Gradually add in 4 egg yolks and beat until well combined.

Add in milk and almond/peanut powder and beat until well combined.

In another clean, dry bowl, whisk egg whites with remaining 60g icing sugar until firm peaks (I was not sure what firm peaks constituted, but I whisked until the peaks held when I lifted my beaters from the egg whites, but the tips of the peaks flopped over a little).

Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter then fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Pour into a 9 inch round cake tin that has been greased and lined with baking paper.

Bake for 30 minutes in the oven then cover with a piece of aluminium foil and bake for another 20-25 minutes.

Leave to cool then invert the cake onto a tray and dust a layer of icing sugar over the top then serve.