Tag: Almond Cake

Brown Butter Almond Cake with Chocolate Filling

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

Raspberry Almond Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Hi there… It’s been a while! I have been baking, but I haven’t really been baking anything new to share. I did tweak a Blueberry Crumb Muffin recipe that was quite yummy that I intended on sharing, but didn’t photograph so it didn’t become a blog post. I’ll have to whip up a batch soon to share especially since berry season is right around the corner. I’ve also been doing quite a bit of crocheting. I used up most of my remnant stash of Bernat Blanket Yarn to create a colorful granny square blanket. I’ll be sharing that soon. I’ve also been working on a sunburst granny square cardigan for myself. Full disclaimer, I’ve been working on it for over a year. I go through bursts of making the squares and then take a break. I believe I am only a few squares away from having enough to start stitching it together so hopefully it doesn’t take me another year to complete. But today I am sharing a cake where all the flavors work perfectly well together. A Raspberry Almond Cake with Chocolate Frosting. So, if you like chocolate-covered almonds, raspberry truffles, any almond dessert, etc. this cake is for you!

To start I made the raspberry curd. Yes, raspberry curd. While most people think of citrus –especially lemon – when it comes to curd you can pretty much make curd with any fruit. The steps are basically the same you may just have to adjust the amount of sugar you use depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Once the curd was done, I let it cool in the refrigerator overnight so it could thicken.

For the cake, I used a white cake mix that I doctored by adding in buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla extract and a decent amount of almond extract to get the perfect almond flavor without it being too overpowering – a full tablespoon. You may think this is too much, but any less and the almond flavor won’t stand out. I wanted the flavors to complement each other but also to stand out on their own.

Any to top it all off a simple chocolate buttercream frosting. Perfectly chocolatey without being overly sweet! I may have enjoyed a few spoonful’s of the leftover frosting.

Put all those together and you have a cake that may just become your go-to when looking for something special but not too difficult to make.

Raspberry Almond Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

Raspberry Curd:

11-12oz. Raspberries (frozen or fresh)

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

6 egg yolks

1 stick unsalted butter, cubed

Almond Cake:

1 15oz white cake mix

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 vegetable (or canola) oil

3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

1/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature

1 tablespoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Buttercream:

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (1 1/4 cups), at room temperature

3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

5 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Fresh raspberries and sliced almonds for decorating, optional

Directions:

For the Raspberry Curd: In a medium saucepan combine the raspberries and the lemon juice. Cook on medium low heat until the raspberries begin to burst, and you can smash them. Once the raspberries are mostly liquid press them through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Allow it to cool.

In a medium saucepan lightly beat the egg yolks and then add in the sugar. Whisk the eggs yolks and sugar together until well combined. Then whisk in the cooled raspberry mixture. Cook on low heat whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cubed butter until it has completely melted. Strain the curd through a fine mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl. Allow it to cool to room temperature and then place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface then cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until the curd has thicken.

For the Almond Cake: In a large bowl add the cake mix, eggs, oil, buttermilk, sour cream and both extracts. Beat with a hand mixer on low for 30 seconds and then increase speed to medium and continue beating for about 2 minutes until the ingredients are well combined. Do not overbeat. Divide the batter among 2 8-inch cake round pans that have been sprayed with baking spray. Bake in a 350 F preheated oven for 26-28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Chocolate Buttercream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter on high speed until creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl and then add the sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, salt and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds and then gradually increase the speed to high and beat for an additional minute until all the ingredients are well incorporated and the frosting has come together.

To assemble the cake: If necessary, level the cake rounds. Place one of the cake rounds on a cake board or cake platter, flat side down. Using the chocolate frosting, pipe a dam around the perimeter of this cake round. Fill the cake with the cooled raspberry curd (you will only need a little more than half of the curd). Place the other cake round on top, with the flatter side as the top of the cake. Crumb coat the cake with the frosting and then refrigerate for 10 minutes so it can set. Finish frosting the cake with the remaining chocolate buttercream. If you would like you could pipe swirls on top of the cake with the remaining buttercream and then top each with a fresh raspberry. If using, decorate the sides of the cake with almond slices by simply pressing them on.

Recipe first appeared on Bead Yarn & Spatula