Yesterday I posted this photo on Instagram and many of you have been asking for the recipe. So here it is. I adapted it from David Lebovitz, which adapted from a book of Gina de Palma "Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen ". The variations I made were cutting in half the quantity of sugar and changing the spices because I wanted something fresh and lemony. I also had to change the technique as with so much less sugar it didn't work. The result is a moist cake that melts in your mouth, literally. With the quantities, you can make two loaf pans of 20 cm/ 8 inch long or 2 round cake pans of 18 cm / 7 inch. It keeps well wrapped or under a cake dome for a few days.
Ingredients
I prefer to use weight instead of cups, you will get better results! If you love baking, a scale is a must, it measures also the ml and cl ( liquid stuff)
135 gr of almonds, toasted
280 gr of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of kosher or sea salt, I use Fleur de Sel
1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
1 teaspoon of bitter almond extract, you can find in the grocery stores or online
3 large eggs
170 gr of sugar
1 cup or 250 ml of extra-virgin olive oil
300 gr of grated zucchini, I used a food processor with the grating disk, or you can use a grater with large holes
For the lemon glaze
60 ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice
65 gr of granulated sugar
140 gr of powdered sugar
Directions
Brush the inside of the pans with some of the olive oil, dust with flour and tap out the excess.
Preheat the oven at 180° /350F
Finely chop the toasted almonds in a food processor by intermittent pulse, that's important for not heating them, which would ruin the almonds. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and ginger. Set aside.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar and olive oil, it’s easier if you do in a stand mixer on medium speed, until fluffy and light, about 3 minutes. Change the whisk with the paddle, add the salt, the bitter almond extract and the sifted flour, mix in on medium speed just the time to combine, about 30 sec. Stir in the chopped almond and zucchini, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary, don’t overwork the batter. Pour the batter into the loaf or cake pan, smooth the top and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Personally I had to bake for 1 hour, even if I made 2 smaller ones, but maybe it’s my oven. It's ready when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and dry. Towards the end prepare the glaze. Sift the powdered sugar in a bowl, add the granulated one and the lemon juice, whisk together vigorously for a couple of minutes. I suggest not to use all the lemon juice, it happened to me that it was too liquid, so I needed to add more sugar. the glaze should be runny but not too thin.
Let the cake cool down for 10 minutes, then carefully turn it down on a cooling rack. I used a large dish under the rack so I could easily brush the cake with the glaze while it’s still warm, like in the photo below. Wait that’s completely cold before moving onto a serving dish.
As you can see, I made one round and one rectangular, the rectangular one was cooked before the round, let’s say 5 minutes.
