Recommendations

Almond cake with Bols Corenwijn 2 jaar Vatgerijpt

On the plate is a wedge of almond cake with vanilla, drenched in a hot syrup of mandarin juice, sugar, strips of mandarin zest and flaked almonds. Opposite stands a corenwijn that spent two years on Limousin oak and keeps from it a golden-yellow colour and a lightly sweet, velvety taste.

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From the shelf

The bottle

Bols Corenwijn 2 jaar Vatgerijpt comes from Lucas Bols, the Amsterdam name that has been tied to genever since 1575. It is a korenwijn of 38% vol in a 100 cl bottle, aged two years in Limousin oak casks, with a golden-yellow colour and a lightly sweet, velvety taste. The description does not give an exact malt wine share. For the designation korenwijn, at least 51% malt wine in the alcohol component, at least 38% vol and at most 20 grams of sugar per litre apply; at 38% vol this bottle sits exactly on the legal lower limit.

Bols Corenwijn 2 jaar Vatgerijpt

The combination

Why this works together

Almond cake with mandarin syrup is a dessert of three things that belong with cask-aged korenwijn: almond, vanilla and citrus peel. Limousin oak is the wood used in France for cognac and is known for exactly that vanilla and nut release, and two years is long enough to get that layer into the jenever. The malt wine underneath brings the grain-sweet roundness that can carry the 250 grams of butter in the cake. The strips of mandarin peel in the syrup find their counterpart in the citrus note that often emerges in korenwijn after maturation. The lightly sweet, velvety form of this bottle matches the syrup without putting another layer of sugar on top. At 38% ABV enough alcohol remains to keep the cake from ending greasy in the mouth.

At the table

The dish

  • For 4 people
  • Ready in 45 minutes, plus 1 hour in the oven and 10 minutes cooling
  • Type dessert

What you need

  • 250 g butter at room temperature
  • 300 g sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 4 eggs at room temperature
  • 130 g flaked almonds, plus 2 tablespoons for the syrup
  • 2 mandarins
  • 120 g self-raising flour
  • a loaf tin or springform tin of 28 cm
  • baking paper and a food processor

How to make it

  1. Preheat the oven to 160 °C and line the tin with baking paper.
  2. Beat the butter with 250 g of the sugar and a pinch of salt with the mixer until light and fluffy.
  3. Split the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the seeds and whisk them in.
  4. Beat the eggs into the batter one at a time.
  5. Grind 130 g flaked almonds fine in the food processor. Grate the yellow zest of one mandarin. Fold the ground almonds, the zest and the baking flour into the batter and spoon everything into the tin.
  6. Bake the cake for about 1 hour in the middle of the oven until golden brown and let it cool in the tin.
  7. Peel the second mandarin with a vegetable peeler and cut the peel into 2 mm strips. Squeeze both mandarins.
  8. Heat the mandarin juice with the remaining 50 g sugar in a saucepan, stirring continuously. Add the strips of peel and let the syrup reduce over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the 2 tablespoons flaked almonds.
  9. Place the cake on a dish, pour the hot syrup over it and let it rest for 10 minutes before you cut it.

In the glass

Serving

Pour the Bols Corenwijn at room temperature into a tulip glass, filled to the brim. The vanilla and nutty notes from two years in Limousin oak are the reason for this combination and they open up best around 18 °C; chilled, you keep the velvety shape and lose the cask. Serve a small glass with a narrow wedge of cake.

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