Catalan Salt Pinch Cake

I have to admit I had some real reservations about this cake.  Usually its the title of a recipe that first grabs me and then the recipe introduction seals the deal on whether I try it or not.  When I first got this book and was looking through it, when I came to this recipe my first reaction was YUCK and then I thought, WHY?  Why would anyone want to make this, it sounded totally unappealing to me.  I even debated about making it at all but since I had all the ingredients on hand I figured I would give it a try.

I prepped my pan, and measured out the nuts and put them in the oven to toast while I weighed the eggs, got the egg whites ready and weighed and sifted the flour and sugar.  When the nuts were toasted I cooled them and then ground them with some sugar and set it aside.  I whipped the egg whites with the remaining sugar until they formed soft peaks.  Then I began adding the whole eggs 2 tablespoons at a time and beating for 2 minutes after each addition.  I could see what was happening with the batter as it continued to beat but this would have been one of those times when I would have liked it if Rose explained the science behind this as it seemed a little odd to do this 2 tablespoons at a time.  At any rate, it wasn’t hard and it did give me time to clean up the dirty pots and pans and by the time the batter was ready to go in the oven, my kitchen was all cleaned up.

The completed cake batter

The cake ready for baking

The cake out of the oven

I admit that I am opinionated.  Anyone who knows me will attest to it and I think anyone who has read my posts for previous cakes can see that I don’t have a problem saying when I think something is overcomplicated, fussy or just plain isn’t any good.  I am afraid that I really did not like this cake.  It had a strange spongy, sticky, cottony texture that I found really unappetizing.  The flavor wasn’t all that bad but it just didn’t appeal to me in the slightest.  I know that I will never make it again but if someone twisted my arm to make it, I think I would use orange zest instead of the lemon zest.  That was my first reaction upon tasting it was that it should be orange.  I made this cake on Wednesday afternoon and I couldn’t get anyone in my family to try it.  Everyone just kept looking at it and saying no way.  I finally broke down and had a piece on Saturday morning with coffee and then I threw the rest of it away.  If I had to sum this one up I would say that it should have been left out of the book because it certainly wasn’t heavenly.

 

Next Up:  Pure Pumpkin Cheesecake

Advertisement