Red Currant and Almond Cake

We have a huge amount of red currants in our garden this year. The branches are so heavy that they already lean down. For my taste red currants are a little sour to eat raw, maybe if you put them in yogurt or muesli. But red currants are perfect for baking and jam making. I already made some batches of jam, which I will post soon.

This cake has a nice hint of tartness, but is still sweet enough through the topping of caramelized almonds. The batter is made from whipping cream instead of butter which gives a light texture. After the first baking a mascarpone cream and caramelized almonds are added. Be sure to use a deep enough cake pan. I tried to make the cake in a tart form first, but the batter came way to high.

Advocaat (Eggnog) - Cardamom Pound Cake

There used to be a Swedish bakery not far from our place, and they had a signature cardamom bread, which I like very much. So I decided to try this out myself, but instead of bread I wanted to make a pound cake. You can get cardamoms at some supermarkets, but I think you'd find them much cheaper in Indian grocery stores. They come in two kinds, with shell (green) and without (brown). Get the green ones; the shell keeps it fresh and also preserves the flavor.

Another important ingredient in my pound cake is advocaat. In Germany, we call it Eierlikör (literally, egg liquor). It's similar to eggnog, but the taste is quite different, especially that there is no alcohol in eggnog. A very popular thing for us is to drink advocaat served in shot glasses made of dark chocolate. Yum! I have never made or tasted homemade advocaat myself, but here is a recipe if you want to try.

I found a great recipe for my cake in Baking for all occasions by Flo Braker. I changed it a little bit and added cardamom and advocaat instead of eggnog, which makes it a great moist spice cake.