Print

Golden Almond Cake

This golden almond cake almost dissolves in your mouth — it’s soft and moist, and bursting with nutty flavour, and more importantly it has a beautiful crust. It’s the perfect cake for when you are entertaining because you can serve it with fruit and chocolate — more dessert for everyone.

Ingredients

  • 166 g (1 and 2/3 cups) sifted cake flour
  • 35 g (1/3 cup) blanched or unblanched sliced almonds, toasted and finely ground (see notes below)
  • 200 g (1 cup) sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 170 g (12 tablespoons) soft unsalted butter
  • 160 g (2/3 cup) sour cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Add the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk for half a minute.
  2. Add the butter and sour cream and whisk on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened, then whisk on medium speed and beat for a minute and a half to incorporate air.
  3. Scrape down the sides and add the eggs one by one, beating for 20 seconds between each addition. Add the extracts with the last egg.

  4. Scoop the batter into a prepared cake pan (refer notes below), and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after you remove the cake from the oven.

  5. Let the golden almond cake cool, for 10 minutes before you unmould it. You could help it along by running a metal spatula around the cake — against the side of the pan.

  6. Serving: It is at its best when it is warm. Serve with: 1. a dusting of powdered sugar, or 2. raspberries, or 3. peaches, or 4. chocolate, or 5. sour cream ganache, or 6. crème fraîche topped with fresh peaches or raspberries.

Notes

Equipment: One 23-cm (9-inch) cake pan, greased, with parchment lining the bottom. Grease the parchment too, then dust the cake pan with flour.

Storage: The golden almond cake stays fresh for 2 days when stored in an airtight container, and up to 5 days when stored in the fridge.

If you have a problem digesting unblanched almonds, use blanched almonds — take a look at this post on how to blanch almonds. To toast the almonds, spread them on a baking sheet and bake the unblanched almonds for 7 minutes or until pale golden, and the blanched almonds for 2 minutes. Stir it about twice to prevent overbrowning, and ensure that it is all evenly toasted. When the almonds have cooled completely, add them to a food processor, along with the 1/2 a cup of sugar (from the 1 cup of sugar), and pulse them in bursts until you get a fine powder. Pulse in bursts to ensure that the food processor doesn’t get too hot, and look at the powder now and then to ensure it doesn’t become pasty.