Nantais Almond and Rum Cake with Royal Icing

Here is a little recipe I had fun putting together. This is actually my version of the Nantes cake (not completely identical). It took several tries to get the consistency I had in mind. I love to work without a recipe and look for the solution myself. It’s like chemistry, you add more or less sugar, more or less butter, flour, egg and the cake will be different each time. This cake rich in almonds and amber rum has the advantage of keeping for a long time (I don’t really know how long because it doesn’t survive anyway) and gets better every day. It can be made with a royal icing that is baked to be hard and form a shell that will protect the cake from drying out and allow the flavors to develop even more. 

Add flour and almond powder. 

Add the amber rum. 

Then add the eggs and mix well to obtain a homogeneous paste. 

Pour into a baking pan lined with parchment paper on the bottom and greased on the edges.

Bake at 170°C for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The cake says it is golden brown. You have to adapt to your own oven, especially depending on the size of the pan. We will have to keep a close eye on it.

Turn out gently.

Brush generously with rum. 

You can stop there and leave the cake in a box for 3 or 4 days, it will be even better…

For the glaze: mix the powdered sugar with the egg white. 

The result is a royal icing.

Pour it over the cooled cake on a rack (with a plate and paper to catch what will fall). 

Allow icing to drip over entire cake. You can shake the rack to “smooth out” the glaze.

Allow to dry for a good hour before setting for 12 minutes at 150°C to set the icing and make it hard. 

Again, it is best (as with the unglazed version) to let it mature in a box before  eating it. It can be kept for about a month.