Portuguese almond & potato cake
Yield: 10 Servings
Ingredients:
- 1 lg Baking potato about 10 -ounces
- 1 c Almonds with skins
- 2 ts Baking powder
- 3 lg Eggs separated
- 3/4 c Sugar
- 1/4 c Unsalted butter softened
- 1 tb Brandy
- 1/2 ts Almond extract
Instructions:
Powdered sugar Marzipan "potatoes
-optional (see recipe)
Bake or microwave potato until soft. Force pulp through a coarse
sieve or potato ricer. There should be 1 cup lightly packed. Set
aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter sides of an 8 1/2-inch spring form pan,
line base with a circle of baking parchment; butter the parchment.
Using a nut mill, grind almonds to powder, stir in baking powder; set
aside.
Beat egg whites until they start to stiffen, sprinkle with half of the
sugar, a little at a time, and continue beating until stiff and
glossy.
Beat butter with remaining sugar, then beat in egg yolks, brandy, and
almond extract. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in potato, ground
almonds and egg whites.
Spoon into prepared pan; bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a tester
comes out dry. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Run a knife blade around edge before releasing sides of pan. Place
cake, on the base, on a rack and let cool completely. Cake will sink
slightly in the middle. Reverse cake onto a plate, peel off paper
and place right side up on a serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar
before serving.
MARZIPAN POTATOES": You'll need 4 ounces marzipan or almond paste and powdered unsweetened cocoa. Pinch off pieces of marzipan and roll into elongated balls each about the size of a large marble. Make these slightly irregular like tiny new potatoes. Roll in cocoa to simulate brown potato skin. Cut several in half to show the white interior. Arrange a little group on top of the cake and place the rest in twos and threes around the edge of the plate. Serves 10. PER SERVING: 235 calories 5 g protein 23 g carbohydrate 14 g fat (5 g saturated) 76 mg cholesterol 131 mg sodium 2 g fiber. From an article by Jacqueline Mallorca San Francisco Chronicle 2/24/93. Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; March 2 1993.
