Was My Easy Almond Cake Cooked Properly?

Asked by lemckpatterson. Answered on 8th June 2015

Full question

Hi there, I've made the Easy Almond Cake twice now, once in square tin and once in suggested tube tin. It tastes fantastic but both times when I've cut in it's got a thick solid / dense layer throughout the centre of the cake, can't quite make up my mind if it's undercooked? This has happened in the past with the occasional sponge cake too, I've asked about and some people say it's the oven temperature, or it's over mixing or it's the butter. I always make the butter soft and with the almond one made sure the marzipan was soft. Can you help? Should the oven temperature in all of Nigella's recipes be reduced for a fan oven? Many thanks, Louise

Easy Almond Cake

By Nigella

Our answer

Nigella's Easy Almond Cake (from Domestic Goddess and on the Nigella website) starts off with a mixture of softened butter and marzipan. The two need to be whizzed together in a food processor and you need the marzipan to be very soft, along with the butter. Cut the marzipan into smallish pieces (about 1cm/just under ½ inch chunks). If the marzipan squishes easily between your fingers then it should be soft enough. If not you can either leave it in a warm place for a couple of hours or give it a couple of very short blasts in the microwave. Make sure that the butter and marzipan are well combined before adding other ingredients.

However it does sound from the description of the cake that it is not baked in the centre and maybe your oven is too hot. You could check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer if you are not sure. Nigella's recipes give timings for standard ovens and if you have a fan oven you should check your handbook for specific instructions, but generally you need to reduce the temperature by 20°C/50°F and you may still have a slightly shorter cooking time.