ALMOND CAKE FROM REIMS (FRANCE)

A few weeks ago, the sweet Claire at "Le Sens Du Goût" (France) sent me two packets of the famous twice baked "Biscuits Roses De Reims" ("Pink Biscuits Of Reims"), a gourmet speciality from her hometown of Reims (see infos) in the Champagne-Ardenne region of Northern France. Those confections date back to the 17th century and are often dipped in liquor, sweet wine, red wine or Champagne...

It all started one day in July when I commented on one of her recipes (see link). She had made a beautiful cake with those biscuits and I wrote that it was a pity we didn't find them here, because I really wanted to test her recipe. She then proposed to send me some as she thought that I deserved a taste of that regional speciality. So, some days later, the postman left her parcel in my letter box. It was with big pleasure that I discovered it waiting for me in it's compartment. Her present made me really very happy as it meant that I was going to be able to test all those gorgeous recipes for sweet treats made with those cute little pink ladyfingers!

For my first use of the "Biscuits De Reims", I decided upon making the cake I saw on her blog: an "Almond Cake". Let me tell you that I was not deceived at all by it as it is delicious, soft, smooth, delicate and light like sponge cake. Somehow, it reminds me of "Carrot Cake" texture- and taste-wise (that's maybe because of the ground almond and lemon zest)... Those pink biscuits add an interesting nutty flavor as well as an uncomparable fluffy texture to this cake. A real delicacy!

Thanks for your generosity, Claire!
If you had not made this kind gift, I would never have known that gorgeous speciality!

~ Almond Cake From Reims ~
Recipe by Fossier and slightly adapted by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums

Ingredients:
20g Ground almonds
70g Unsalted butter, melted
165g Castor sugar
3 Eggs (~53g), separated
12 Biscuits Roses De Reims
The zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 Tsps Vanilla extract

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F) and grease a 20cm (7.8 inches) round cake pan.
2. Put the "Biscuits Roses De Reims" in the bowl of your mixer and grind until powder-like.
3. In a big bowl, beat together the egg yolks with the sugar until fluffy and light colored.
4. Add the lemon zest, vanilla extract, the biscuit powder, the ground almonds and the butter.
5. Mix well for about 5 minutes until smooth.

6. Beat the egg whites until fluffy and stiff.
7. Incorporate them delicately to the biscuit mixture in order to get a homogenous batter.
8. Pour this batter into the cake pan.
9. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
10. Cool on a wire rack.

Remarks:
If you don't have any "Biscuits De Reims", then use ladyfingers and add a few drops of red food coloring to the batter.
The ground biscuits should resemble fine semolina flour. It should not look like coarse meal.
I guess that you could replace the castor sugar by light brown sugar and the lemon zest by orange zest.

Serving suggestions:
Eat at any time of the day and serve with "Crème Anglaise" (see infos) or red fruits (salad or coulis).