There are several perks to writing a food blog, the best being the excuse to have delicious cakes, like this almond chiffon cake, in the house at all times. The only person who has an issue with this is my personal trainer, but I just remind him what job security it is for him. I also have an extensive (300+) cookbook library that I attribute to “research” when my husband asks where we will put them all, now that my book shelves are over flowing. Then there are the products companies send me to critique and review. I have received everything from peanut flour (which I adore) to a confectionery funnel (which is for portion control of pancakes and other runny stuff. Really, you have to make your pancakes the exact same size???). I will never review or endorse a product I don’t actually love and find value in.
Now back to the baking…this cake was inspired by my trip to Italy this past summer. The man who owned the home we rented introduced me to his favorite cookie, the ricciarelli. They are made from almond paste and egg whites baked into little rich clouds and dusted with pure white confectioners’ sugar. I was completely addicted to them after the first bite. They are available all over Tuscany and when baked fresh you want to sing their praises. The stale ones you buy in the tin are to be avoided and unfortunately that is what most of us have tried. After writing this description I realize I need to create and post a recipe for the actual cookie, but for now I have a cake that it inspired. It is light and spongy, but at the same time decadent because of the almond paste. The cake is great on its own with a cup of coffee for breakfast or with ice cream or coulis for dessert.
For recipe…
Ricciarelli cookies on the counter in San Gimignano (the best I had).
A typical day’s sampling of the local Tuscan bakery.
(My average breakfast when traveling. Now you see why I need the personal trainer.)
Ricciarelli (rich-ee-a-relly) Chiffon Cake
2 cups (220g) Cake Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
7 ounces (200g) Almond Paste
5 egg yolks
1 cup (200g) sugar
1/2 cup (118 ml) oil (I used 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup vegetable oil)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
8 egg whites
confectioner’s sugar for the top
To make the cake: preheat the oven to 350 degrees
In a medium bowl stir together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. Cream the almond paste until smooth and then add egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, oil, water and extracts. Cream together until smooth, about 3 minutes, set aside.
Whip the egg whites until foamy then add 1/2 cup sugar and whip until stiff peaks, they should be stiff enough to hold onto the whip when lifted out of the bowl, but the peak will be soft enough to flop over like a dairy queen ice cream cone. (If you over whip the egg whites they will not have any elasticity left to rise when they get to the oven.) Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture over the whites and fold it in gently using a rubber spatula. Repeat two more times with remaining flour.
Fold the egg white mixture into the almond paste mixture, again in 3 additions.
Place the batter into an ungreased 10-Inch Tube Pan
Bake for about 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Remove almond chiffon cake from the oven and invert the pan over the neck of a bottle to cool. This guarantees that the cake will not collapse while cooling.
Dust almond chiffon cake with lots of confectioners’ sugar and enjoy!
The strangest kitchen gadget I have is an english muffin splitter. Honestly . . . I got it from Wolferman’s when I ordered some of their huge english muffins. I maybe used it once!! Thanks for the giveaway.
Strangest… strawberry stem remover. Love it.
those cookies look amazing! my good ol’ williams-sonoma spoonula’s are my favorite kitchen tool, i couldn’t live without them. maybe i’ll buy one for all my friends with the gift card! thanks!
Hmmm…it’s kind of embarrassing, because it’s a single-use gadget that I could easily get by without, but I really like my little garlic peeler. There’s something just so satisfying about sticking a clove in it, rolling it, and presto! Peeled garlic.
I used to collect old, red-handled kitchen utensils. Seriously, I don’t know what half of them were used for! My favorite oddity is a teeny tiny silicone spatula. I bought it from W-S years ago and use it all the time.
An old college roommate had this hello kitty toaster that would imprint hello kitty’s face on your bread. That was pretty random.
The oddest tool is a loud, big a** freeze-dryer. I love it! (picture is available upon request) 🙂
Oddest for me would be either my mom’s deviled egg platter or a plastic orange juicer that has to be at least 30 years old. I don’t think either have been used in the past decade, but I keep them around because they remind me of her.
My favorite kitchen tool are my knives. There is nothing like a good sharp knife.
A spaetzel maker…only good for one thing! But when I needed it and couldn’t find it, I realized that it’s the only piece of equipment that’ll work for the job.
I have more than one egg separator, and they are all useless!
Oddest? Avocado slicer. My mom got it for me but I’ve yet to use it once haha
Maybe not all that unusual (after I’ve read some of the other entries!), but it came to mind right away – a 6″ diameter rubber mat “gripper” for opening lids.
Thanks for the chance, and for the photos of those yummy cookies and other treats 🙂
Garlic peeler. It’s a tubular piece of silicone that looks like a canneloni shell. Maybe I just haven’t figured out how to use it properly, but it takes forever to get the skins off the garlic cloves.
Years ago a boyfriend decided we needed a melon baller. Since we were university students at the time, and didn’t buy melons on our meager budget, it seemed like an odd purchase.
I’ve eaten melons since but always prep them with a good knife. The baller has lived deep in various utensil drawers for almost 20 years. Occasionally I find it, wonder if it will ever get used and promptly forget about it for another several months. If it didn’t have a such a cool visual design it would have been tossed in the ‘donate’ box long ago.
My favorite kitchen tool is probably my little potatoe peeler. It’s a hand me down from my Mother that she had from many years ago and today it is still sharp as ever and very reliable. Lots of memories in that little gadget! 🙂
What strange and wonderful gadgets you all have! The only thing I haven’t seen on here is a cake tester. It’s a long thin piece of wire attached to a small flat plastic handle that even says ‘cake tester’, in case I forget. Trouble is, being metal and very thin, the undercooked batter doesn’t stick to it… soooo, after pulling out a couple of underbaked cakes, I went back to using toothpicks. I can’t believe that I actually paid for that!
My favorite tools are my hands! Second favorite is my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, although I love that I no longer have to use it to make bread. Now I use your recipes from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.
my mother in law (famous for her random gifts) gave me a jellied cranberry sauce server/slicer. Not kidding. it looks like a wide crystal butter dish w/ an oddly shaped pie server.
The strangest kitchen gadget in my kitchen would be this pizza cutter that plugs in. It’s almost like a power tool! HA HA! Sadly, it never gets used unless my son pulls it out when we have pizza……
My strangest piece of kitchen equipment is my sterling silver handle angel food cake cutter (almost like the one pictured next to your amazing looking chiffon cake) that I purchased at an estate sale. I also have another one with a red handle. Most of my friends think the cake cutters are fancy combs for my natural curly and slightly fro-ish hair! (Tee-hee)
Someone gave me a little tube that slices garlic cloves when you put one inside and twist it. Why? 🙂 Never used.
I’m pretty good about keeping to the basics and don’t have anything too strange, except two things I never use but haven’t managed to throw out are a garlic press and an egg separator. What a waste! Knives and hands (or egg shells) work just fine.
Oddest? those silly garlic peelers that don’t work worth a hoot. An old peanut butter jar works better for me…put the cloves in and shake the hootie out of it. voila. papery peels and whole peeled garlic cloves. I wrote “Magic Garlic Peeling Jar” and drew a happy garlic face on it with a sharpie. My husband says it’s odd we have two stand mixers. I don’t agree. So one has purple flames painted on it… Nothing unusal about that!
My favorite gadget is my garlic press by pampered chef.