How Can I Make Easy Almond Cake By Hand?

Our answer

Nigella's Easy Almond Cake (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) is made with marzipan, butter, flour, eggs and sugar. A food processor is the easiest way to combine the ingredients as the blade finely chops everything together. It may be possible to make the cake using an electric mixer or by hand, though it would need a lot of elbow grease to use a wooden spoon. It would probably be best to beat the butter and sugar together first and then add the marzipan and beat again until as smooth as possible, without letting the mixture get too greasy or oily. Then add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the flour. The eggs can be added with a tablespoon or two of flour each, to prevent the mixture from curdling.

We would suggest perhaps coarsely grating the marzipan first as this should help it to mix more easily with the butter. You may find it easier to grate the marzipan while it is cold, but then let it come to room temperature and soften before adding it to the creamed butter and sugar. Unfortunately we have not tested this method so are unable to guarantee the results. It should also be noted that in the UK marzipan is sometimes called almond paste, but in the US marzipan and almond paste are two different ingredients. So make sure that you use marzipan for this recipe.