Almond Rum Cake #TheCakeSliceBakers

November 20, 2023

Almond Rum Cake #TheCakeSliceBakers

Well, it's almost the end of November-- and our time baking through Aleksandra Crapanzano's "Gateau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes" is coming to a close.

For my next-to-last Cake Slice Bake of 2023, I chose the Almond Rum Cake (or Gateau de Nantes). I gotta say, my cake's not much of a looker-- but she makes up for it in taste! Check out the links at the end of this post to see what the other lovely bakers chose!

I've been baking very involved cakes lately, so this understated confection was just the change of pace I needed. The recipe's author calls it "a somewhat fancy cake that just happens to be very simple to make, nearly impossible to make badly, and eminently practical as it is even better on day two."

(I can vouch for this, as I had a slice for breakfast this morning.)

Because I tend to be "extra" when it comes to cake decorating, I thought about candying some cranberries or trying to dress my Almond Rum Cake up-- just a bit.

But Aleksandra Crapanzano is resolute in keeping it plain. "Sleek and assured, it prefers to stand alone, without dollops of cream or sugared berries crowding its presentation."

Okay, fine. I'll keep it plain.

The sponge itself is a simple, almond-flour based cake scented with lemon peel and rum. It gets a touch exotic with the allspice, rum, and peppercorn soaking syrup.

The cookbook's author gave two options for the glaze-- a traditional rum glaze, and a non-traditional lemon glaze. I went with the lemon.

The cake is quite similar to other cakes from this book-- but the spices in the syrup give it a little extra "Je ne sais quoi." It's moist, not overwhelmingly sweet, and a little spicy.

So give this Almond Rum Cake a try! It's simple-- but sometimes simple is good.

Almond Rum Cake

from Gateau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes by Aleksandra Crapanzano

Cake:

6 large eggs, room temp

1 cup butter, room temp

1.5 cups granulated sugar

grated zest of 4 lemons

2.5 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup all purpose flour

6 T dark rum

Soaking Syrup

3 T granulated sugar

1/3 cup water

1 T whole allspice (optional)

1 tsp black peppercorns (optional)

1/2 cup dark rum

Lemon Glaze:

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1. Heat the oven to 350. Grease a 9" cake pan.

2. In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a fork to break up the yolks.

3. In a stand mixer, beat the sugar, zest, and butter together on medium high speed-- until pale and fluffy. Add the almond flour and salt, and beat until incorporated.

4. With the mixer running, add the eggs a bit at a time, until pale and voluminous.

5. Fold the flour in with a spatula, until just combined.

6. Turn the mixer to low and mix in the rum until just combined.

7. Bake 50-55 minutes, or until golden. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a platter.

Syrup:

Bring the sugar, water, and spices to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Boil for 5 minutes to reduce the liquid. Stir in the rum, and leave on the warm burner (or boil the heck out of it like I did). Strain the solids.

With the tip of a knife, make several small slashes in the cake. Brush on the syrup until absorbed. Allow to cool to room temp.

Glaze:

Mix the lemon juice, salt, and sugar together. Pour over the cake and allow to set.

Enjoy ;)

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes by Aleksandra Crapanzano. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.