The Pain de Gênes (lit. “bread of Genoa”), also called Genoese cake or ambrosia, is a cake made with ground almonds, eggs, and melted butter, and a minimal amount of flour.
Another unusual aspect is that no leavening agent is used, but it rises by beating the butter and eggs.
It is not of Italian origin, but French. It was invented around 1840 by the Parisian pastry chef Fauvel, who worked at the Chiboust patisserie.
Initially, Fauvel called it gateau d’ambroise (ambrosia cake) and it was already an almond-based dessert, with butter, eggs, and sugar, baked in a round and flat Genoese bread mold, with a fluted edge and then glazed with curaçao, kirsch, or maraschino.
Two years later, in 1852, Fauvel moved to the house of Frascati, boulevard Montmartre, bringing his recipe with him.
He slightly revised it and renamed it “Pain de Gênes,” in memory of the siege suffered by General Massena in Genoa, during the second Italian campaign. Legend has it that the starving inhabitants survived by eating tens of thousands of kilos of almonds.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economic
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: French
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 7 tbsps butter (melted)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/3 cups almond flour (or finely ground almonds)
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup flour
- as needed sliced almonds
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- 1 Baking Pan 8-inch fluted pan
Steps
Mix 1/2 cup sugar with the melted butter, add the almond flour. Add the remaining sugar and a pinch of salt.
The eggs, one by one, and the flour.
Butter an 8-inch pan, spread the sliced almonds over it and then the mixture.
Bake in a static oven at 350°F for 45 minutes.
