The recipe I adapted was by Cook's Illustrated who said the cake "Best." Let's find out if it's true even with a couple of changes I made. I reduced sugar from 1 and 1/4 cup to somewhere between 1/3 cup and 1/2 cup. I added 1 tablespoon of brandy.
I confessed that I made a mistake. The recipe mixes eggs and sugar in food processor, which would result in what they were after: a flatter, slightly denser cake. If you use a mixer, whipping eggs and sugar, lots of air would be incorporated in the cake, which would result in a tall, well-risen domed cake. I did use food processor, but didn't mix eggs and sugar together because I accidentally mixed sugar in four mixture at the beginning. My cake was a kind of risen domed. Was my cake too fluffy? Actually neither fluffy or too dense, which the Cook's Illustrated was aiming.
The cake was wonderful. J loved the cake. With the dramatic sugar reduction, the sweet level of the cake was right. Simple but flavorful. The texture was lovely. This was the BEST almond cake that I have ever made. The Cook's Illustrated was right!
