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Walnut Flavors Are All They're Cracked Up To Be

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By SUSAN LaTEMPA and DONNA DEANE, Los Angeles Times

Published: October 10, 2007

As the fresh-crop walnut season crests, bins and baskets become filled with glorious piles of satin-shelled, wrinkly brown nuts.

The high-harvest flavors can be enjoyed in all sorts of ways. We're talking, after all, about a nut with a fascinating interplay of opposites: the slight bitterness of the tannins in the pellicle (or thin skin) against the sweet nut meat; the ethereal fragrance versus the earthy crunch.

For creamy, sweet, fresh-nut tastes, choose walnuts in the shell and crack and eat them a few at a time with juicy apples and cheese; the accompaniments cut the pucker. Toast shelled halves (in the oven or a dry skillet) to scatter on salads. If a recipe calls for grinding or chopping nuts, begin with a package of smaller pieces - they're less expensive and more convenient.

Some dishes call for the walnut pieces to be toasted before being added to the other ingredients. For cookies and cakes, you'll often want to add the walnuts untoasted; they'll take on a roasty flavor as they cook.

A rich but amazingly light cake with a warm brown color more often seen in Renaissance paintings than on the kitchen counter is made using freshly ground walnut meal in place of flour. Grind the nuts just before using to capture the essential oils. And for the best texture, be sure to beat the egg yolks until they're pale yellow and thick enough to form a ribbon when poured from a spoon; likewise beat the whites until they form stiff peaks so as to give the cake structure.

It's sometimes surprising how different pairings of ingredients bring out the walnut's different characteristics. For example, a warm touch of sherry in the whipped cream that accompanies the cake brings a burnished finish to the dessert.
WALNUT CAKE
3/4 pound walnuts, about 3 cups

1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

8 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar, divided

Zest of 1 orange

1 cup whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks

2 teaspoons oloroso sherry 1 teaspoon powdered sugar

Lightly butter a 10-inch springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and lightly butter the paper. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Grind the walnuts in a food processor until fine. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the nuts to sprinkle over the top of the cake. Combine the flour and baking powder, and stir into the remaining walnuts until evenly mixed.

Beat the egg yolks until well-blended, then gradually beat in 1/2 cup of the sugar. Continue beating until the mixture is light and lemon-colored and the eggs form a ribbon when dropped from a spoon. Stir in the orange zest. Stir in the ground walnut mixture.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold a large spoonful of the beaten egg whites into the walnut mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

Spoon the cake batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the reserved 2 tablespoons walnuts over it. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove to wire rack to cool to warm. As cake cools, it will settle.

Combine whipped cream and oloroso sherry. Sift the powdered sugar through a small strainer into the whipped cream and stir until blended.

Serve a slice of cake with a dollop of oloroso whipped cream.

Serves 12.

372 calories; 9 grams protein; 22 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 29 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 168 milligrams cholesterol; 75 milligrams sodium.

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