This is a rich ring cake recipe. I've given the nuts by weight since they're sold by weight, and their volume will depend upon how well they pack in your measuring cup.
Prep Time: 90 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 1/5 cups (500 g) unbleached flour
- 1/2 cup (100 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature and broken into bits
- 4 ounces (100 g) slivered almonds
- 4 ounces (100 g) blanched hazelnuts
- 4 ounces (100 g) dried figs
- 2 ounces (50 g) blanched walnuts
- 2 ounces (50 g) raisins (this should be about 1/2 cup)
- 2 tablespoons powdered bitter chocolate
- 2 ounces compressed yeast (the kind sold in moist cakes in the supermarket)
- Good rum
- 3/4 pound apricot or peach preserves -- which ever you prefer
- 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 9-inch tube pan, well buttered and floured
Preparation:
Begin by preparing the yeast: Pour 1 cup flour into a bowl, crumble the yeast into it, add one or two tablespoons warm water, and work the mixture. Add just enough more water as necessary to obtain a smooth soft ball of dough, cover it with a damp cloth, and set it to rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.Make a mound of the remaining flour on your work surface and, once the starter has sat for 15 minutes, knead it into the flour, adding warm water in small amounts; your goal is a fairly soft dough. Knead it well for about 15 minutes; it should be firm and elastic.
Roll the dough into a ball, put it in a bowl, cover it with a heavy slightly damp cloth and set it in a warm place to rise for a couple of hours.
In the mean time, rinse the raisins and put them in a teacup with rum to cover.
Chop the walnuts and hazelnuts. Cut the figs into thin strips. Using a paring knife, peel away just the yellow part of the lemon skin and cut it into strips too.
When the dough has risen, turn it onto your work surface (marble is best here, though a broad ceramic plate will also work). Drain the raisins, setting the rum aside. Knead the dough once or twice, then work all the other ingredients into it except for the rum and the honey. Knead well to distribute everything evenly throughout the dough, shape the dough into a ring, and put it in the tube pan (it should come up about half way). Cover the pan with the cloth and set it to rise in a warm place for about 2 hours.
When the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 390 degrees F (190 C). Put the cake in, reduce the heat to 375 (180) and bake for about 45 minutes. When it is done remove it from the oven , flip it upside down, and let it cool. Then remove it from the pan. After removing it, heat the honey and 2 tablespoons of the rum in the top of a double boiler, stir to combine the two, and brush the resulting syrup over the cake.
