Almond Sponge

This is a really sweet almond sponge cake, the addition of sugar leades to a longer shelf life, and when this cake is used for something like a petits four glace it remains moist for a pretty long time. It is also a pretty stable cake, so is good for small applications. Because of the high amount of eggs, liquid, in this formula you have to be careful because it tends to break on you rather then stay emulsified.

Formula: yields a half sheet pan
Almond paste*, 4 oz.
Sugar, 6.5 oz.
Eggs, whole beaten at room temperature, 6 each
Almond extract, 1/2 t
Salt, 1/4 t
Butter, 8 oz.
Pastry flour, 3.5 oz.
Baking powder, 3/4 t
*make sure to keep almond paste covered when not using or it will dry out fast.



MOP: creaming method

• Cream almond paste (almond paste is very high in fat so is usually considered a fat in a formula), butter, sugar until very well incorporated. The almond paste is a little hard to break up, so it might take longer then you'd think. You want to try to get rid of as many chunks as possible and get a smooth consistency.
• Sift flour and leavening agent, twice. Because the sponge cake is so light you want to make sure you have no impurities in the flour. If you are making a two stage cake its a good idea to sift the flours three times).
• Slowly add your room temperature beaten eggs to fats in three stages. The batter will break more easily then with other creaming method cakes. You really want the batter to grab at the sides leaving long strands before adding the next addition.
• Fold in flour.
• Pan batter into desired size sheet pan.
• Run finger along the sides, and knock on counter once to let air bubbles escape.
• Bake at 350°F to a springy and firm. Approximately 20 minutes.