Almond Cake

Submitted by pammyowl

"Slightly dense, intensely almond flavored cake"

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 8-10

ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 (7 ounce) package almond paste
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1 tablespoon brandy or 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 1⁄2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄3 cup cake flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and set rack to middle position.
2. Line the bottom of an 8" cake tin with parchment paper. Butter and flour the tin.
3. Using an electric mixer (stand mixer or hand held) cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add the almond paste about a walnut sized piece at a time, beating until well blended after each addition.
5. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the kirsch (or brandy or rum), almond extract and the salt.
6. Combine the cake flour and baking powder in a small bowl, add to the batter and beat vigorously for about 30 seconds.
7. Pour the batter into the cake tin.
8. Bake for about 35 minutes until golden brown on top and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Start testing at the 30 minute mark.
9. Cool the cake in the tin on a rack. Unmold the cake on to a serving platter. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

10. Notes:

11. This cake has a tendency to collapse in the middle as it cools. I have found that beating the batter vigorously after the flour is added develops a bit of structure that helps alleviate the collapse. Because it is cake flour there is only so much gluten that can be developed so the cake does not become tough. And anyway, collapsed or not, it still tastes great.
12. This cake is delicious served plain as is. With a little raspberry coulis, a dollop of whipped cream and a fresh berry or two, it makes for an elegant desert.
13. If you have cake strips you can use them here. It's not really necessary but I find you get more even rise if you do.
14. If you don't have any liquor in the house you can omit it altogether.
15. This cake keeps very well, wrapped, at room temperature for a couple of days.

Reviews

[katew]

I am a marzipan lover so this was a perfect cake for me. As warned I did have some cracking and collapsing of cake in the middle. But that was no problem and we all loved it with a dollop of pure cream - what a treat. I was very simple to do and I look forward to doing it again very soon.

 

[hon3ybutter]

This was an excellent cake. I did make some adjustments:<br/><br/>I make my own baking powder (use 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda, use 1:1 in place of baking powder). <br/>I ran out of white sugar so made this with one half brown sugar. <br/>I used regular flour rather than cake flour.<br/>I reduced the size of the batch using the website tool, to 5 servings. I used the same size (8inch) pan, so the cake batter was not as deep.I baked it for the same length of time and same temp as the full recipe called for (30 minutes at 350). <br/><br/>The results were surprisingly light. It was not overcooked or dry at all. I did not experience cracking or collapsing of the cake, it looked lovely in fact. I did get a darker golden color due to the brown sugar, but it was moist and delicious. <br/><br/>I will make this again. I'll also be trying it with some almond meal in it for a little texture. The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 was that it was not as easy to make as some cakes. It took some time to beat in the marzipan and get it fairly smooth with a hand mixer.