When it comes to what kind of margarine; a soft-spread or baking margarine is best. And as with all ingredients when baking any kind of sponge cake, ensure it is at room temperature before starting. Like most sponge cakes, margarine is the best fat to use. Some believe butter gives a better flavour to a cake, but margarine does make a better textured and more predictable sponge. The bottom of Almond Slice is a sweet shortcrust pastry. Super simple to make with just some flour, butter/margarine, sugar and a little cold water. Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until creamed and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time and beat in. Mix in the milk and vanilla, then add the ground almonds and sieve in the flour bit by bit until combined. Pour the mixture into the tin and spread it out until flat.

Almond fingers - Eat Well Recipe - NZ Herald Almond fingers - Eat Well Recipe - NZ Herald

Place marzipan in the middle of the cookie dough as per photo. Fold the left side of the dough over the marzipan, then the right side so it overlaps and encases the marzipan completely. Of course these little slices need some sweetness. Caster sugar is the sugar of choice here and is preferable over granulated sugar, as it is finer and mixes better into the sponge batter. It actually was really filling too, I struggled to eat the whole serving of this Cherry Almond Baked Oatmeal, so next time I think I will divide the mix into 3 and make 3 little versions that I can space out in the day.A sure sign of a recipe being a winner is when half of it is gone before I even manage to get photos! I knew the kids would like Almond Slice, given their love for Mr Kipling Bakewell Slices but I hadn’t anticipated making two batches within a few days. To make this gluten free, make sure the oats and baking powder are gluten free varieties. This recipe is also suitable for vegetarians. Again, flour is a must in any cake batter and self-raising is used here to allow the cake topping to rise a little. In the Netherlands, Gevulde Speculaas make an appearance around Christmas time, and the traditional spices of Cinnamon,Ginger, Nutmeg and Cloves are indeed very Christmasy. However, this slightly less spicier and lighter version only has cardamon and cinnamon to make it more an everyday kind of cookie, that’s what I think anyway!

Almond cake recipes - BBC Food Almond cake recipes - BBC Food

These little bars of deliciousness are, like the Norfolk Scone, inspired by Jennie Reekie’s Cakes, Pastries and Bread book. I have altered her recipe though replacing half the flour with ground almonds to make them more almondy, taken out Jennie’s cinnamon addition and changing the method, so they really are only a doff of the hat to Jennie. Mine are more macaroon to Jennie’s shortbread. In fact, if you pinned me down to describing them I would say that they are a hybrid macaroon/shortbread. A bit like the Norfolk Scone being a hybrid scone/eccles cake. There seems to be a pattern forming here… Place the flour with a pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add the caster sugar and butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Once completely cooled, you can dust the almond fingers with powdered sugar for an extra touch of sweetness.Leave to cool before cutting into fingers. Store in an airtight container, layering with baking paper as you go. Use a small sharp knife to score the roll/log 2 cm apart, but not all the way through. This will be your guide in cutting the cooked roll into fingers.

Almond fingers - 9Kitchen - Nine

If you don’t have a processor then rub the butter into the flour, almonds and sugar. You will start with a breadcrumb texture and then it should start to bind together to form a ball. What I love about these is you don’t need to be an expert baker to make frangipane. Being moist, it’s very forgiving to work with and can be cut into dainty slices without the risk of them falling apart. Place the marzipan in the middle of the dough as per photo . Fold over left side of the dough to cover the marzipan, then fold the right side over so the two sides are slightly overlapping and the marzipan is fully covered. For the frangipane filling, measure the butter and sugar into the food processor. Whizz until creamy, then add the eggs and whizz again. Lastly add the ground almonds, flour and almond extract, then whizz.In another bowl, combine the pear, sugar and 25g of the flaked almonds. Spoon over the top of the frangipane mixture, gently pressing some of the pear down into the mix. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is evenly baked and a light golden-brown. If I’m being completely honest, I’m not too big a fan of almonds in baking. I can happily munch through an entire bag of whole almonds but when it comes to baking with them, I just get reminded of marzipan which is something I am most definitely not a fan of! I’m not entirely sure what it is about marzipan but I just can’t seem to grow any degree of fondness for it.