This Week, Bake this Versatile Almond Cake with Yotam Ottolenghi
Andrew thinks that this cake would be an ideal breakfast cake, replacing coffee cake with its coconut,
blueberries, and almonds. All I can say is the cake is perfect, the berries juicy, the coconut and almonds crunchy, and a lovely wedge of it a perfect ending to a wonderful meal…or teatime…or breakfast.
I’ve written so much about Yotam Ottolenghi that he feels like an old friend.
But if Yotam’s not familiar to you, please feel free to click on the links below this recipe. You’ll read all about this Israeli-born Italian chef who has been the toast of London ever since he opened his first take-out place in Notting Hill. Among his many achievements, Ottolenghi is also a Food Columnist for The Daily Mail. The arrival of Ottolenghi’s first cookbook dedicated to Baking was greeted with much fanfare, especially around our house. “Sweet” (Ten Speed Press 2017) was written with his pastry chef, Helen Goh. Helen adds yet another layer of geography to the Ottolenghi story. She was born in Malaysia, emigrated to Melbourne, Australia when she was ten, and moved to London where she’s worked with Yotam since 2006.
According to Ottolenghi himself “Take the word ‘cake’ out of this title and this pretty much reads like a list of superfoods.”
If you’ve ever felt guilty over sweets, don’t do that here. Coconut is highly nutritious and good for the heart. Like Blueberries, it’s full of antioxidants. The Blueberry has 10 health benefits including helping brain function and improved memory. Almonds reduce blood pressure and lower cholesterol. But this is cake after all, and Ottolenghi praised it as “simple, wonderfully moist and also versatile. It’s as good warm for dessert with double cream as it is at room temperature when it’s time for tea”. Double Cream, if you’re American, is what we call “Whipped Cream”. Here is the recipe with both English and American weights
This cake is about as versatile as you can get. For dessert, serve it warm and top it with Whipped Cream. For tea, eat it at room temperature. Or serve it in place of Coffee Cake at the breakfast table.Yotam Ottolenghi's Coconut Almond and Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Monte, as always a recipe I look forward to trying. Thanks. Are you and Andrew possibly planning to be at the High Point Furniture Market in High Point, NC this spring? Of so, I wanted to invite you to my table for a meal here in Winston Salem. Thanks! Janie Foltz
Can I buy a vowel?
Dear Janie, Alas we have no plans to do so. That is such a kind and generous invitation. Please excuse me for not getting back to you much sooner than this! All best, Monte
Hi… UK double cream is just cream with a high fat content (48%). It is used as a (thicker) pouring cream or can be whipped. Here, Ottolenghi suggests pouring it over the warm cake, although I’m sure a lower fat cream whipped to soft peaks would be equally delicious. 🙂
Thank you so much, Pete for taking the time to write and to pass on that valuable piece of information to our US audience. All best, Monte
Hello, tried to bake this cake and not sure why, but the inner portion is uncooked , gooey even after 60 min in the oven. Outer portion pretty well cooked. Can I fix this, please advise.
Dear Mary, We are so sorry whenever a recipe we’ve published doesn’t cook correctly. In all honesty, the first thing we would do is to check to make sure the oven is heating correctly. 350 F or 180 C is the temperature we used to create the cake in our home oven. And unfortunately, the cake cannot be ‘re-baked’ at this point. If you do decide to bake it again, please come back and tell us what you think. Thank you! Andrew and Monte
Dear Mary,
The cake is done when the inside is dry. It took me much longer than the suggested time, about 75 minutes on the first try. I use a wood skewer to check, and use not only my eyes but also my lips to establish the absence of moisture on the skewer after poking it in the baking cake somewhere in the middle :-).