As promised (if you read the Empadao recipe blog, you know) here is one of my favorite sweet treats from Brazil. It's decadent and the texture is to die for. This is one of the many recipes inherited to Brazil from Portugal and has been made for 100's of years. Toucinho do Ceu translates to "bacon from heaven" since the traditional recipe used pork lard. I have yet to make this with pork lard but it feels like something I should do someday.
Toucinho do Céu (Almond Cake) - recipe adapted from Leticia Moreinos Schwartz cookbook: Cook Brazilian - NOTE: Do not use almond flour as a substitute for the ground almonds
Tools
- Parchment paper
- 1 large saucepan
- 1 medium bowl
- 8 x 2 round cake pan
Cake
- ½ cup water
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 1 ¾ cups skinless ground almonds (I blitz my almonds in a food processor until crumbly)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, + extra for greasing the pan
- 5 large egg yolks
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon almond extract (or amaretto)
- 1 teaspoon orange zest, finely grated
- All purpose flour, for dusting
- Preheat the oven to 325° and line your cake pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment with butter and give it a dusting of flour.
- Bring the water, sugar and salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the ground almonds. Stir gently but consistently over medium-low heat. Once the mixture starts to thicken and you can see the bottom of the pan by stirring you can remove the pan from the heat. This should take about 2 minutes. Add the butter and mix until it is melted and blended well.
- In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs and yolks. Add these to the almond mixture with a spatula. Add the almond extract and orange zest and stir well.
- Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan. Bake until it is firm in the center and the top is lightly golden brown, about 28-30 minutes. If overcooked, the cake becomes chewy.
- Cool on a wire rack. Invert the cake pan onto a platter or plate. Lift the pan and remove the parchment paper. Enjoy!
