75/99: Swedish Pear and Almond Cream Cake

I love foreign food and the fact that this recipe is Swedish made it even more exciting.  Rose says that "the pear adds luscious moisture to the crumb; the almond cream imbues it with lovely flavor." I think that she very eloquently and accurately described the cake.  It wasn't an overwhelming flavor nor was it bland.  It was a simple, sweet taste that was enhanced by the moisture in the cake.

I don't plan ahead very well when it comes to making cakes. I just open the book, pick a recipe, and open the pantry or the groery store.  This one called for almond paste. Almond paste is $15.99 from Amazon and no telling how much at the grocery store, if they even carry it.  Noooo thankyou.

So with my hefty stash of nuts (whole, sliced, and slivered almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, etc) I pulled out a bag of slivered almonds and got busy making the almond paste.  Since I had all the ingredients handy, I like to think that I saved 16 bucks.  Totally worth it.  I got the recipe from allrecipes.com so if you need some almond cream, take an extra five minutes and save yourself some cash. Here's the recipe:

Almond paste: (yields 4 servings)

• 5 ounces blanched almonds
• 3/8 (16 ounce) package confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Grind almonds in a blender. Thoroughly mix in confectioners sugar. Beat egg whites slightly, then stir into the almond mixture. Add almond extract, using your hands to blend the heavy mixture. 

 

 The recipe wasn't too difficult. 

Then the almond cream filling could be made entirely in the food processor which was wonderful. It's always nice to have a few less dishes.  You basically grind the paste and the sugar together and then add butter.

 Then pulse in an egg, vanilla, and flour:

And voila: almond cream!

Then for the cake: also pretty basic. First you make your liquid mixture: eggs, sour cream, and vanilla.

Then mix your flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with the remaining butter and sour cream.

Pour in your egg mixture:

Fill the pan and then make a little furrow in a circle to pour in the almond cream.

Top with pears and your done!

 

I tried to take a picture last night of the cake but I couldn't get a good one.  I decided to wait until this morning and use natural lighting to see if it would be any better.  Guys- the change in the photo was incredible.  Natural light makes the picture much more clear. So from now on- I'm going to try to stay away from overhead lighting.  Check it out:

Rose's Heavenly Cakes- page 58