Cake of the Day: Walnut Cake from ‘Bitter’
They taste good, they look good, and they’re made by good people — talented bakers from around the world. Today, chef-author Jennifer Mclagan explores the taste and flavor of bitter foods with a nutty cake from her cookbook Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, with Recipes.
(Photo: Aya Brackett)
Walnut Cake
Serves 8 to 12
This rich, moist, dense, not-too-sweet cake is perfect with an espresso. If you have a Seville orange, use it, but a regular orange is fine, too. If you can locate black walnuts, try using them; they’ll add a wonderful fragrance to the cake. As the cake bakes, it will rise and then fall; that is normal. This cake improves with keeping and is really better a day or two later, if you can wait. Adding the cocoa is another way to play up the bitterness of the nuts.
5 ½ ounces walnut halves
2 slices white bread
2/3 cup unsalted butter, diced
2⁄3 sugar
4 eggs, separated
¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
A pinch of fine sea salt
1 Seville or regular orange
A pinch of cream of tartar
Cocoa powder
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform cake pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.
Spread the walnuts and bread slices on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 10 minutes or until the bread is dry and the nuts are lightly toasted. Let cool slightly. Lower the oven temperature to 325°F.
Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Set 3 tablespoons of the sugar aside and add the remaining sugar to the butter. Cream the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Meanwhile, place the walnuts and toasted bread in a food processor and pulse until finely ground.
Add the egg yolks, one at a time, to the creamed butter and sugar, beating well after each addition. Stir in the ground walnut and bread mixture, then add the cardamom and salt. Finely grate the zest from the orange and add to the mixture; set the orange aside for another use.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy; add the cream of tartar, and continue to whisk until white. Add the reserved 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until the whites are glossy and resemble whipped cream. Add a large spoonful of the egg whites to the walnut batter and stir to lighten. Tip the batter onto the egg whites and fold lightly until mixed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 50 minutes or until dark golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out dry.
Let the cake cool for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the cake and unmold onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely, then dust with cocoa powder.
Reprinted with permission from Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, with Recipes by Jennifer Mclagan (Ten Speed Press).
More cakes to cozy up to this winter:
Orange & Rosemary Polenta Cake
