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Prep time
30 minutes
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Cook time
1 hour 10 minutes
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makes
One 9-inch cake
Author Notes
There once was a very small gourmet shop in Amagansett, New York called Besart. Bess, the cook, turned out exquisite croissants, baguettes, quiches, and cakes while her husband, Arthur, testily relieved customers of exorbitant amounts of money for the privilege of taking said delicacies home and eating them. Luckily for us, my mother stopped in at the shop every Saturday morning of the summer for a bag of warm croissants and one of these cakes, which Bess called the Pain de Gênes.
Ah, the Pain de Gênes! It was an irresistibly rich, positively addictive almond cake. When Bess and Arthur closed the shop, in about 1978, Bess took the secrets of this, and all of her venerated desserts, with her. The memory of her Pain de Gênes has haunted me ever since.
About ten years ago, I tried to resurrect this holy grail of cakes. No published recipe, in print or online, had either the flavor or the texture I was looking for. Although I hadn’t tasted the original in more than 25 years, I knew I hadn’t found it yet. I didn’t give up; I just decided to wait for an epiphany.
A few summers ago, I decided I had waited long enough. I set to work again. (It is truly amazing how many variations one can produce, using the same basic ingredients, by making slight adjustments in quantities and employing different techniques.) Happily, after about a dozen tries, I found myself exclaiming, “By George, I think I’ve got it!”
Bess didn’t share her recipes with anyone, not even Craig Claiborne (who, by the way, was crazy about her walnut cake with chocolate frosting). I am happy to share my recipe for this utterly wonderful cake with you. Rest assured, I haven’t left out any secret ingredient. —Margot Mustich
Ingredients
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1 cup
all-purpose flour
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1 teaspoon
baking powder
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1/2 teaspoon
fine sea salt
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6 ounces
almond paste (see note)
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1 1/2 cups
granulated sugar
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6 ounces
(1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted
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6
large eggs, at room temperature
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1 teaspoon
pure vanilla extract
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1 teaspoon
pure almond extract
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1 teaspoon
dark rum (I use Myers’s "Original Dark" Jamaican rum)
Directions
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1. Preheat oven to 325° F.
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2. Butter a 9-inch springform cake pan. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Dust the sides of the pan lightly with flour. Set aside.
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Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Reserve.
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Place the almond paste and the granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture is uniformly sandy.
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Transfer the almond mixture to a large mixing bowl. Pour in the melted butter, and stir gently with a wooden spoon until smooth.
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Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring to incorporate each egg completely before adding the next one. Stir in the extracts and the rum.
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Add the dry ingredients all at once, and stir gently until smooth.
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Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Lift the pan about 6 inches above the countertop and let it drop onto the counter. This will bring any unwanted air bubbles up to the surface of the cake. Repeat. If necessary, use a toothpick to pop any large bubbles that form.
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Bake on a cookie sheet—I line mine with aluminum foil, in case any butter leaks through the bottom rim of the pan—on the center rack of the oven for 65 to 70 minutes, until the top is a deep caramel color, the center is firm to the touch, and the cake has begun to shrink away from the sides of the pan.
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Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Note: Almond paste is not the same thing as marzipan or almond cake/pie filling. Be sure to use almond paste. I use Solo brand. You’ll find it in the baking needs aisle of the supermarket.
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