Catalan Salt Pinch Cake

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 197: Catalan Salt Pinch Cake

When Marie posted this cake as the next cake to be baked, I was expecting some sort of savory cake (is there such thing as a savory cake? *shrugs*) but after i read the recipe did i realised that it was created by a baker of Salt Bakery which was name after the village of Salt. So it's just any regular sweet cake afterall!

Although this cake is easy to make, you must have the patience to stand next to the mixer and add 2 tbps of the 300g egg mixture each time, beat for 2mins after each addition till the egg mixture runs out. So be prepared to stand next to the mixer for like 20-25mins. Of course you can measure out the flour during this time and zest the lemon and cut the parchment for your pan..etc...but obviously i didn't read the instructions properly. I did my usual way, measured out all my ingredients first (mis en place?) and organised them so i won't forget an ingredient (but sometimes it doesn't work cos i still forget oO), hence i had nothing much to do during the 20-25mins except to wait for the next addition of egg mixture.:S Oh wait..i did dance around a little because a hungry mosquito was trying to feed on my legs when i stood too still...

Oh ya....i used store bought ground almond meal instead of grinding it on my own. :p I always have some standby for making macarons. Baking macarons is a good way to get rid of all your eggwhites. :)

Instead of using 9" springform pan, I baked them into cupcakes. So at least i can pinch my own cupcake as i don't want everyone to pinch on the same cake that i'm going to eat (and they can pinch their own too..lol). I used the non-stick paper cupcake cases and pressed a piece of parchment into each of the cases so that batter can 'stick' onto the parchment and rise properly. The total batter yield about 16 cupcakes and i baked them for 15 mins. What's great is i can recycle my cupcake cases...cos they still look as good as new..no oil seepage. Hey, now i realised that there's no butter/oil for this recipe!..no wonder no oil seepage from the parchment onto my cupcake cases..:D

Verdict: Winner! Light, scrumptious, spongy, moist (but not wet) and yet not overly sweet with a tinge of almond flavor. Bite into it and the crumbs of the cake melt into your mouth. This cake is very light and delicious! Of course I loved it! We ate the cake without any whipped cream or raspberries and it tasted just as good. In fact this cake reminds me of the sponge cupcakes that are sold in our local chinese bakeries minus the almond. My daughter said it is so light that she ate 3 cupcakes at one go! I totally agree..i ate 2 and still felt i could eat more..lol! My husband ate 2 too! My son..is the fussy one..he doesn't want to eat any new food..! I'm surprised that without any oil or butter, the cake can still stay so moist. :)

Brought some to office for my boss & colleague to try and they thought these cupcakes were from a local bakery until i told them i baked them and that this is a Barcelona cake, not our Asian sponge cake, although similar in taste. They enjoyed it nonetheless. :D

See the inside of the cake, airy & spongy...

NOTE: Comment by Rose left on Marie's blog. I'm elated that Rose said she loved my baby cakes. :) I'm a huge fan of Rose and totally admire her! Her one comment meant a lot to me, so i have to cut & paste it here..like her autograph, since i can't get an autograph from her..:(

Rose Levy Beranbaum said...

p.s. the book will have to include some photos and comments from the other participants. i'm reading through them now ad wow! LOVE the individual ones from 'amateur baker' and seeing them in the oven is stunning. that's as far as i've gotten...