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Almond Cakes
1/2 cup butter 2 eggs 3/4 cup sugar 1 1/3 cups flour 1/3 cup milk 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 cup Jordan almonds, blanched and cut in pieces Mix ingredients in order given, and bake in individual cake pans.
A plain butter cake batter loaded with almonds, baked in small tins. The one term that misleads modern readers is "Jordan almonds," which here means the nut itself, not the candy.
- Jordan almondsIn this period the name meant large, flat, sweet almonds of the Malaga/Spanish type sold shelled and unsweetened. Use whole raw almonds; the modern sugar-shelled confection would ruin the batter.
- BlanchingCover the almonds with boiling water, let stand a minute or two, then slip off the skins and dry them before chopping. Wet almonds bleed moisture into the crumb.
- "Mix ingredients in order given"The recipe gives no further direction; in practice this means the usual creaming method: cream butter and sugar, beat in the eggs, then add the flour sifted with the baking powder alternately with the milk, and fold in the almonds last.
- OvenThe recipe gives no oven direction or baking time. Small cakes of this type generally suit a moderate to moderately hot oven, around 350-375F, for roughly 20 to 25 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the tops spring back.
- Individual cake pansA standard muffin tin or small fluted tartlet moulds both work. Grease well and fill about two-thirds full.
- YieldThe quantities should give roughly a dozen cakes in a standard muffin tin.
- Baking powderTwo teaspoons to 1 1/3 cups flour is generous by current practice but not unreasonable for a batter weighed down with a full cup of chopped nuts. Use a double-acting powder and do not let the filled tins stand.