I’ll tell you the story about this cake. This recipe is featured in my cookbook, My Rio de Janeiro, titled Bolo da Benza, on page 195. It’s a flourless almond cake, so for this blog post, let’s call it The Best Almond Cake for Passover.
I invite you to watch a video of the recipe for The Best Almond Cake for Passover HERE and to subscribe to my YouTube Channel.
Although my name —Leticia—might be difficult to pronounce in English, Leticia is a very popular name in Portuguese (as well as in Spanish, French, and Italian). In my high school, there were several Leticias, three of us in my grade alone. To make things easier, our classmates nicknamed us by our last name. My maiden name is Benzaquen, and so, around the sweet age of twelve, I became “Benza.” To this day, I have friends in Rio who can’t call me Leticia. To them, I will always be Benza.
I love reuniting with friends in Rio every time I go down, and I often cook dinner for them. Recently, I invited my girlfriends for dinner in Rio and baked this Almond Cake, which I got the recipe from my dear friend and food writer David Leite. I remember the day David and I cooked together and photographed this cake for his website (leitesculinaria.com). I couldn’t stop raving about this recipe. Back in Rio, my friends also went crazy over this cake. Talking about the cake it clicked to us that it contains no flour, making The Best Almond Cake for Passover. Every once in a while, I receive e-mails when my friends bake this cake for their families. It always comes with a little “miss you and our dinners together,” which brings me to this song, In Too Deep from Genesis.
It brings me a delicious sense of nostalgia, a time when life in Brazil was simple, without much responsibility, devices, or technology. While I wouldn’t change anything that happened on my way to the U.S., it’s a messy business being an adult. Sometimes, I miss my days as Benza.
The Best Almond Cake for Passover
Watch it HERE
Serves 6-8
Cooking Tip:
Don’t use almond flour instead of slivered almonds. It’s very easy to turn the nut mixture into a paste and it might bring the cake down.
3 cups (365g) blanched slivered almonds
1¼ (260g) cups sugar, divided (editor, really ¼ + ½ + ½)
12 tablespoons (165g) unsalted butter, more for greasing
4 large eggs, separated
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
Small pinch salt
Confection sugar for garnish
Equipment: one 10-inch spring form cake, greased with cooking spray, bottom lined with parchment paper, greased again.
- Center a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350˚F.
- In the bowl of a food processor place almonds and ¼ cup (60g) of sugar and beat just until almonds are ground (be careful not to overbeat, you don’t want to release any oils from the nut). Add the butter and pulse just until the butter is well incorporated. (Again, don’t over-mix.)
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat yolks and ½ cup (100g) of the sugar until it looks pale and thick, 6 to 8 minutes. Add ground cinnamon, vanilla, and almond extract and continue beating.
- Using a rubber spatula, add the almond mixture to the yolk mixture, switch to the paddle attachment, and beat at medium speed, trying to keep the mixture light and fluffy, for about 1 minute.
- In another clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (clean the bowl if necessary), place the egg whites and salt. Turn the machine on, gradually increasing the speed; when it starts to rise, slowly add the remaining ½ cup (100g) sugar and beat until soft peaks. Add one-third of the egg whites into the yolk-almond batter, then add the remaining whites, making sure the batter always continues light and fluffy.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake the cake until golden brown and the sides pull away from the pan, about 40 minutes. The center will collapse a little, and that’s normal. Transfer to a rack and let rest for 10 minutes before unmolding. Cool completely before serving. Dust with confection sugar and serve.
If you like The Best Almond Cake for Passover, you might also enjoy:
Brazilian Haroset For Passover
Chocolate-Covered Matzoh Toffee
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See you next time,
Leticia