Nut Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup broken nutmeats, skinned if necessary
- 1 cup flour
- 1&1/2 cups sugar, divided
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 stick salted butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp to 1 tbsp flavoring (almond extract; walnut oil; hazelnut syrup; etc)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup sugar
- whole nuts for garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a small ring pan or two 8-inch round or heart-shaped pans. Place the broken nuts, flour, baking powder, and 1/2 cup sugar in a food processor (if you have a blender, this mixture may gum it up. Blend the nuts with the eggs, butter, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice instead). Grind as fine as you desire. Set aside. Beat the butter with the remaining sugar; add the eggs, vanilla, flavoring, and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Beat very well. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until mixed; turn into prepared pan(s) and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes for a ring pan and 35-40 for two pans; bake until a cake tester emerges with only a very few crumbs, if any, clinging to it, and go by that rather than by the clock. Meanwhile, put the honey, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup lemon juice, and cinnamon stick into a saucepan, and reduce over medium high heat until half volume. If desired, toast whole nuts in a frying pan and add to glaze, swirling to coat; otherwise, once cake(s) have been removed from oven and put on serving plates, arrange nuts on top(s) and pour hot glaze over. Let set for at least two hours, preferably overnight, and serve at room temperature.