With the holidays quickly approaching you may be looking for new recipes to share with your loved ones. Today I am bringing you a Brown Butter Almond Cake with Chocolate Filling that I personally wouldn’t say is ideal for dessert but better suited as a breakfast / brunch treat. Or for an afternoon watching holiday movies, decorating or wrapping gifts while enjoying your favorite warm beverage.
I started this cake by making brown butter. After letting it cool, I got to work on making the batter for the cake. I whisked the cooled brown butter with eggs, sugar and vanilla extract, until it was smooth. In another bowl I whisked together the dry ingredients – flour, almond flour and baking powder. I incorporated the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 3 batches alternating with buttermilk. While you can buy buttermilk, I always opt to make my own by combining whole milk and vinegar. Once the batter was ready, I poured half of it into my prepared pan and then topped it with diced almond paste and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I then topped it with the remaining batter and gently spread it with an offset spatula. Before placing it in the oven I sprinkled the top with sliced almonds. After the cake cooled I dusted it with Confectioners’ sugar before enjoying a slice.
You may be wondering why I said this cake wasn’t very dessert-y. Well, besides the fact that it wasn’t very sweet, the texture was more reminiscent of a muffin or scone to me. It did taste good, but I think the recipe title is a bit deceiving. I was really hoping the brown butter flavor would stand out more as it did in the batter – yes, I tried the batter raw – but it somehow melted away while baking. And while the title does say “Almond Cake”, adding almond flour to the batter didn’t really give the cake an almond flavor, that really came from the almond paste that was added to the filling along with the chocolate chips. The almond flour aided in making the cake extremely moist though – always a good thing when it comes to cakes. No one wants to eat a dry cake, regardless of how good it may be. It is possible that the brown butter and almond flour somehow cancelled each other out, both having a nutty flavor or that the almond past just overpowered everything. Maybe a better title for this cake would be Brown Butter Cake with Almond & Chocolate Filling. Apologies if I sound negative, as I mentioned, the cake was good just not really what I thought it would taste like based on the recipe title. I would be curious to try this recipe again by omitting the almond flour and increasing the amount of all-purpose flour. Maybe then the flavor of the brown butter would really shine through.
Brown Butter Almond Cake with Chocolate Filling
Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 ounces almond paste, finely diced (about 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Directions:
Brown the butter: Place the butter in a medium saucepan and melt over low-medium heat, stirring constantly until the butter reaches a warm amber color, about 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to large bowl to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8-inch springform pan with baking spray and set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Add the eggs to the cooled brown butter and whisk together until smooth. Whisk in the sugar and vanilla extract until combined. Add the flour mixture in three parts alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk until the batter is smooth.
Spread half the batter into the prepared pan. Scatter the chocolate chips and diced almond paste over the batter in an even layer right to the edge. Top with remaining batter and gently spread with an offset-spatula. Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the cake in an even layer.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and springs back when pressed. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a knife along the edges of the cake to loosen from the springform ring. Remove the springform ring and let the cake cool completely before dusting with Confectioners’ sugar.
Recipe from Food Network
Bead Yarn & Spatula 