The Greek cake is a typical recipe of Mantuan cuisine. It is a simple yet refined dessert, made with few ingredients that unleash all their goodness. A puff pastry base encloses a delicious filling rich in finely chopped almonds. It seems to owe its name to being originally from Greece and being a dessert of the Jewish community of Mantua (Wikipedia says). There are several variations, and here I propose the one I was taught. Don’t be fooled by its appearance; I guarantee it is truly delicious. It is the perfect dessert for those who love the authentic and genuine flavors of the Padana tradition. Ideal as a Sunday dessert or as an afternoon treat to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.
Other almond cakes I recommend trying:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 12People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for the Greek cake
It is quite difficult to find bitter almonds in common supermarkets. I recommend asking for them in a pastry shop. They surely have them. That’s what I did. Don’t ask me if they can be replaced with others because the answer is NO.
Read HERE to find out how to replace cream of tartar if you can’t find it, but especially to understand what it is exactly used for.
- 1 roll puff pastry (round)
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 5 oz butter
- 3 eggs (medium)
- 1 pinch cream of tartar
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 3 ½ oz unpeeled almonds (+ some for decoration)
- 3 ½ oz bitter almonds
- 1 tbsp baking powder (1 packet + ½)
- 1 vial almond flavoring
- milk
Tools
- 1 Chopper
- 2 Bowls
- Electric mixers
- 1 Sieve fine mesh
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Cake pan 28 cm diameter
Preparation of the Greek cake
Line a 28 cm diameter cake pan with the puff pastry disk, keeping it on top of the baking paper sheet provided in the package. Place in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.
Separate the egg yolks from the whites and beat the latter to stiff peaks with a pinch of cream of tartar. Set them aside.
Put the unpeeled almonds together with the bitter ones in a chopper and chop finely.
In a large bowl, put the softened butter together with the yolks and work them with electric mixers. Then add the sugar and beat the mixture thoroughly.
Gradually add the sifted flour through a fine mesh sieve. Then also add the chopped almonds. Finally, sift in the baking powder.
When these dry ingredients are perfectly incorporated, add (in two batches) the beaten egg whites, mixing with gentle upward movements. If the mixture seems too stiff, soften it with some milk (I used 100 ml). Also add the vial of almond flavoring.
Pour all this filling into the puff pastry shell, keeping the edges straight as the Greek cake will grow quite a bit during baking. Level the surface and place some whole almonds on top. Finally, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Bake the Greek cake in a preheated static oven at 350°F (180°C) for 50 minutes.
Take it out of the oven and let it cool completely before transferring it to a serving plate. Enjoy! Paola
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