Almond Flavoured Pretzel

Whenever I crave for something sweet and there’s nothing that could save me immediately (a bar of chocolate, some sweets or biscuits) I decide to make a cake. Yes, the process might be long and tiring, but you benefit at least twice – 1. you get to lick the bowl and 2. later on you can enjoy hot homemade dainty!

I’ve got a huge book for such occasions: imagine a thick colourful catalogue of cakes and tarts… Of course I would always go for the ones that look most spectacular, but usually my choice is limited to what ingredients can be found at home. So here’s a list of what I needed and actually found:

375g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
125g butter
185g sugar
3 eggs
vanilla flavour
125ml milk
125 raspeberry jam
125g coconut shavings
almond flavour

At first you need to take just 125g of sugar and mix it well with the egg yolks; later on add the melted butter. Mix flour, baking powder and salt; then start adding it to the previous mix. Keep pouring milk, so that the mix wouldn’t be too hard. Add some vanilla flavour. Your dough should be solid and a bit gummy (trust me it will be hard to get it out of the bowl - but more is left on the walls!).

A round baking tin should be covered in butter and sprinkled with flour. Then lay your dough. On top of it place the raspberry jam.

Now you can prepare the almond flavoured top for your cake: whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar (you should have 60g left) and almond flavour. Once the whites are hard add the coconut shavings. Stir them in carefully. Put the whites on top of the jam.

The cake should be baked for about 40-50 minutes, the oven should be preheated to 180 degrees.

I’m sure you’ll like it!