Citrusy Almond Tea Cakes

I figured my first post should be something that requires you to squeeze a lemon! These little cakes are originally from Flo Braker's The Simple Art of Perfect Baking, but I found the recipe in Tartine. The almond paste gives them a rich, fine texture and a subtle almond flavour, and the tart citrus glaze keeps them extremely moist and creates a slightly crystallized crust. The original recipe bakes in a loaf pan, but I like these little cakes - they bake a lot faster, they're already in individual portions, annnd there's more surface area for glaze. Win, win, win, right?

I had some trouble finding almond paste, so I ended up making my own! I used Jacques Torres' recipe from the Food Network website, and it turned out perfectly. It did make a whole heck of a lot though (about 800 grams, or enough for four recipes of these cakelets), so if you don't use almond paste often I'd suggest cutting the recipe in half. 

The perfect little treat for the best part of the day: tea time. I can highly recommend a cup of jasmine tea with these lovelies. They are perfect together.

Citrusy Almond Tea Cakes

Adapted from Tartine

Kitchen Soundtrack: Kishi Bashi -151a

Makes 16 little cakes.
Ingredients:

• 95g or ¾ cup pastry flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¹⁄₈ tsp salt
• 200g or ¾ cup almond paste, at room temperature
• 200g or 1 cup sugar
• 225g or 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp almond extract (optional)
• lemon zest from one lemon, roughly 1 tsp
• orange zest from one orange, roughly 1 tsp
• 2 tbsp poppy seeds (optional)

Glaze:

• juice from one lemon (45ml)
• juice from one orange (45ml)
• 150g or ¾ cup sugar

Method:

1. Put a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350˚F. Grease and flour enough muffin tins to make 16 cakes. (If you only have a 6 or 12 cup muffin tin, you can bake them in batches. Just wipe the pan out after it has cooled down a little.)
2. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, break up the almond paste. This could take awhile and it is critical to the texture of the cake, so don't rush! While you wait, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt twice.
3. When the almond paste has broken up a little, add the sugar slowly but steadily and continue to beat on low speed (I used speed 4 on a Kitchenaid stand mixer) until evenly combined.
4.  Meanwhile, cut the butter into pieces of about 1tbsp each (16 pieces), then add them one at a time to the almond mixture, beating on low speed for about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl using a flexible spatula. Make sure you get any almond paste stuck at the bottom of the bowl. Beat the mixture for 3-4 minutes on medium speed.
5. Whisk the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) in a small bowl until evenly combined. 
6. When the almond/butter mixture is fluffy looking and light, continue mixing on medium speed and add the egg mixture in a slow and steady stream. Turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix again for about 30 seconds more.
7. Gently stir in the citrus zests and poppy seeds (if using), and then add the flour mixture in 2 batches, gently stirring after each addition until combined.
8. Using a spoon, fill each muffin cup until there is about ¼ inch of room at the top. Smooth the surface with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
9. Place in the oven and bake for 16-18 minutes, turning half way through, until a tester comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.
10. Allow the cakes to cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the glaze.
11. Turn out the cakes and place on a cooling rack with a piece of parchment underneath it. Brush generously with the glaze while they are still quite warm. The glaze will soak into the cakes, so keep on brushing them until you've used all the glaze. Be careful handling them, they are very delicate when they are still warm.
12. Allow to cool completely, serve at room temperature.  You can store these tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

P.S. I made these in a muffin tin, but the original recipe calls for an 8½ inch tube pan or a 9x5 inch loaf pan. The suggested baking time is 45-50 minutes, but when I made mine (in a loaf pan), it took more than an hour to fully cook through and got a little burned on top. I would suggest lowering the temperature to 325˚F and cooking for ~60 minutes.

P.P.S. If you like grapefruit, you can replace the orange zest and juice with grapefruit, but I would keep the lemon because the cakes need the acidity to really pop!