Happy Birthday Cake

I knew that sooner or later this would turn into a food blog of sorts. I can't help it. "Miam miam" and "glou glou" (code for food and drink if you didn't catch that) are a national obsession here in France, and that's right up my alley.

I don't know too many Americans (though they're out there!) who call Julia Child an idol, can spend an entire day wandering the streets of a big city to construct a meal and will peruse every stand at a marketplace to find the best tomatoes available (aside from Danny Fox with whom I shared this experience last July in Paris and also with whom I knocked on Ms. Child's door a few years back in Cambridge just before she moved west to San Francisco).

So, if you'll let me have my cake and eat it too (sorry, if you've met my father, you'll forgive me for the bad puns), I'll continue with the culinary theme and provide you with a delicious cake recipe. My mom made it for me a few years ago, and it was so memorable that I baked one for Bastien's birthday a month ago (it presents beautifully; the photos here have too much flash and don't do it justice):



Jacques Pépin's Almond Cake

Cake
• 4 ounces almond paste (1/3 cup tightly packed)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• Dash of salt
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Syrup
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons whiskey, rum, or cognac
• 1/4 cup sugar

Garnish
• 1 1/2 pounds berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, cherries) or other available fruits (currants, diced dried peaches, or diced dried apricots)
• 1/2 cup good apricot jam, diluted with 2/3 cup water
• 8-10 mint leaves
• 1 cup sour cream or crème fraîche for serving

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the almond paste, sugar, butter, and vanilla in a food processor and process for about 10 seconds. Add the eggs, milk, and salt and process for 5 seconds. Add the flour and the baking powder and process for another 5 to 10 seconds, or until smooth.

Butter an 8-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep).

Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Cool on a rack.

At serving time, place the cake on a serving platter.

For the syrup:
Combine the ingredients in a small bowl.

Using a spoon or pastry brush, moisten the cake with the syrup.

Scatter the berries on top of and around the cake.

Spoon on the diluted apricot jam and garnish with the mint leaves.

Serve with the crème fraîche or sour cream.

Make Ahead
You can make the cake early in the day. Or make several cakes and wrap them well for the freezer. Defrost, still in their wrappings, in the refrigerator.