Image is for illustrative purposes only.
This is a rich, buttery sponge built on ground almonds and desiccated coconut with only a small amount of flour. Creaming the butter and sugar and beating in whole egg gives it a close, moist crumb that stays soft for days, while the almond and coconut give it a gentle chew and a warm, nutty flavour.
It is baked flat in a slab tray, which makes it ideal for cutting into long bars and fingers for baton-style pastries, or for using as a sturdy base layer under creams, ganache and glazes. Because it is firm enough to handle without crumbling, it slices cleanly and holds its shape when layered.
Ingredients
The weights in the recipe table below will yield the following 'weight per unit' and 'number of units'. If you would like to change the recipe to cater to a different 'weight per unit' and/or 'number of units',
you can use the Recipe Calculator Tool below the ingredients table.
Note: The Recipe Calculator Tool is available to subscribers.
Weight Per Unit: 1001
Number of Units: 2
Unit Size: 24 x 30 cm slab tray
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WEIGHT
(grams)
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ALTERNATIVE METRIC
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INGREDIENT
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IMAGE
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CONDITION
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A
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500 |
17.6 ounces
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Butter
Butter is a solid dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk, to separate the butterfat from the buttermilk. It is generally used as a spread on plain or toasted bread products and a condiment on cooked vegetables, as well as in cooking, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying. Butter consists of butterfat, milk proteins and water.
unsalted
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room temperature |
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B
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500 |
17.6 ounces
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Sugar
Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
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C
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200 |
7 ounces
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Almond Meal
Almond meal, almond flour or ground almond is made from ground sweet almonds. Almond flour is usually made with blanched almonds (no skin), whereas almond meal can be made both with whole or blanched almonds. The consistency is more like corn meal than wheat flour.
It is used in pastry and confectionery – in the manufacture of almond macarons and other sweet pastries, in cake and pie filling, such as Sachertorte and is one of the two main ingredients of marzipan and almond paste. In France, almond meal is an important ingredient in frangipane, the filling of traditional galette des Rois cake.
Almond meal has recently become important in baking items for those on low carbohydrate diets. It adds moistness and a rich nutty taste to baked goods. Items baked with almond meal tend to be calorie-dense.
finely ground
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D
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200 |
7 ounces
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Desiccated Coconut
Desiccated coconut is coconut flesh that has been dried and finely shredded. It is much drier than fresh or moist shredded coconut, so it absorbs moisture from a batter or meringue and gives a fine, slightly sandy texture.
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E
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100 |
3.5 ounces
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Cake Flour
Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. Highly sifted cake flours may require different volume amounts in recipes than all-purpose flour. Using the scoop and level method, well-sifted flour usually produces 125 g per cup. However, most American recipes are written with 140 g of flour per cup, so weighing and experimentation can be helpful in baking unfamiliar recipes. Small weight differences can greatly affect the texture. American Cake flour is bleached; in countries where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a domestic microwave to improve the texture of the end product.
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sifted |
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F
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500 |
10 Whole Eggs
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Whole Egg
Eggs are one of the most common ingredients in a typical cake. Egg yolks and whole eggs store significant amounts of protein and choline, and are widely used in baking. Usually an eggs role in a cake is to add moisture and richness, act as a raising agent as well as a glue to bind the ingredients together.
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room temperature |
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G
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1 |
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Salt
Common salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent; the open ocean has about 35 grams (1.2 oz) of solids per litre, a salinity of 3.5%. Salt is essential for animal life, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous of food seasonings, and salting is an important method of food preservation.
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2001
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Recipe Calculator Tool
Using this tool, you can alter this recipe for your own requirements. Use the two fields below to generate new weights for the ingredients above.
STEP 1. Enter your Custom Weight Per Unit
The 'Custom Weight Per Unit' is already loaded with the weight per unit for this recipe but can be changed if required. If all you wish to do is change the number of units (or servings), just leave the current weight per unit.
STEP 2. Enter your Custom Number of Units
This is the number of units (or servings) you want this recipe to yield.
STEP 3. Click Calculate
The new weights for your adjusted recipe will be displayed in the table above.
Method
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STEP
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ACTION
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DETAIL
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CONDITION
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1 |
Pre-heat |
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (355°F) and line two 24 x 30 cm slab trays with baking paper. |
Oven fully up to temperature before the batter is mixed |
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2 |
Prepare |
Combine C, D, E and G (almond meal, desiccated coconut, cake flour and salt) in a bowl and stir them together. |
Evenly blended, no lumps of coconut clumped together |
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3 |
Cream |
Beat A and B (butter and caster sugar) together in a mixer with the paddle attachment. |
Pale, light and fluffy |
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4 |
Add |
Add F (whole egg) a little at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl. |
Smooth and glossy, not split or curdled |
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5 |
Fold |
Fold the dry almond, coconut and flour mixture through the batter by hand. |
Just combined, no dry patches showing |
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6 |
Fill |
Divide the mixture between the two lined trays and spread it level with a palette knife. |
Even thickness right to the corners |
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7 |
Bake |
Bake at 180°C (355°F) for about 25 to 30 minutes. |
Golden on top, springs back when pressed and a skewer comes out clean |
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8 |
Cool |
Leave the sponge in the tray for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and peel off the paper. |
Completely cool before cutting so the edges stay clean |
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9 |
Cut |
Trim the edges and cut each slab lengthwise into 8 long bars for baton pastries, or cut to the size you need for layering. |
Use a long, sharp knife and wipe it between cuts |
Important Notes
The full batch makes about 2 kg of mixture, enough for two 24 x 30 cm slab trays. Each baked slab is cut into 8 long bars, which is how it is used for baton-style pastries. The sponge is rich in butter and almond, so it keeps well: wrap the cooled slabs tightly and store at room temperature for two to three days, refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze wrapped for up to a month. Cut it while it is completely cold for clean, straight bars.
Tools & Arrangements
Electric mixer with paddle attachment, mixing bowls, sieve, spatula, palette knife, two 24 x 30 cm slab trays, baking paper, cooling rack, long sharp knife
