Almond cake with chocolate drizzle

This is one of my favorite cakes, not just for the taste but also for the inclusion of the super healthy ingredient, Almonds! It is not an out and out Almond cake, yet I have incorporated loads of it to create a yummy cake with healthy fat in it. No doubt, a 100% almond flour cake is the ultimate healthy option. However, I wasn’t convinced to go for it, as it generally results in a dense and not so fluffy cake. When it comes to cakes, I prefer not to compromise on the taste and texture. So I came up with this recipe which is a blend of my ‘go to’ vanilla cake recipe and super nutritious almonds. It is frosted with whipped cream and lightly topped with chocolate ganache. I have incorporated almonds in the cake, in the filling and in decoration. Phew, that’s a lot of almonds! Guess what?! It resulted in an extremely delicious, light and fluffy cake. The goodness and flavor from almonds, the fluffy frosting, the crunchy almond bits and of course, the hint of ganache makes it irresistible. Oh boy! It was finished in no time and I’m sure this one is on my repeat list.

The cake is fairly a simple one. So I have just the recipe for you. But, I do have a video on assembling and decorating the cake. It includes a super easy and fun technique to create a ‘heart’, which is also a simple yet cute idea for the upcoming Valentine’s day.

Here you go!

Ingredients:

For the batter

• Almond Flour – 1 cup
• All-purpose Flour – 2 cups
• Baking powder – 4 tsps.
• Salt – 1 tsp.
• Eggs – 4 large (at room temperature)
• Granulated sugar – 1½ cups
• Milk – 1 cup (at room temperature)
• Oil – 1 cup
• Almond essence – 1 tsp
• Vanilla essence – 2 tsps.

For the frosting

• Whipping cream (at least 35% fat) – 3 cups + 50 grams (for ganache)
• Powdered sugar – ½ cup
• Almond essence – ½ tsp
• Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
• Skinless Almond bits – 25 grams
• Whole almonds – 8 to 10 Nos
• Baking chocolate chopped – 50 grams

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius.
2. Set aside two 8-inch cake pans, lined at the bottom with parchment paper and lightly coated on sides with butter and flour.
3. Sift dry ingredients together and set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, add the eggs, sugar, milk and oil. Whisk until the sugar dissolves.
5. Add the almond and vanilla essences and give it a quick stir.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the sifted dry ingredients in three additions, mixing just until it is combined. Do not over mix the batter. I usually stop as soon as there is no visible trace of dry ingredients.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let them cool in the pans for ten minutes and at least an additional 1 hour on the cooling rack before frosting.
8. Add cold whipping cream and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, whip on high speed until soft peaks form.
9. Add the almond and vanilla essences and beat until stiff peaks form.
10. Frost and layer each cake with the whipped cream frosting and skinless almond bits. Refrigerate for a while, 10 to 20 minutes, so that the frosting sets. Meanwhile you can prepare the ganache.
11. For the ganache, you can opt for stove-top or microwave method. I opted microwave as it is faster.

• Stove-top method: Place a bowl with heavy cream on top of a saucepan filled with water. Make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Using double boiling method, heat until the cream starts bubbling. Remove the bowl from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for 5 minutes and let the chocolate melt completely on its own. Then mix using a spoon.
• Microwave method: Add heavy cream with chopped chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Set the microwave at a slightly lower power to make sure that you don’t end up with burnt chocolate. Heat it at short intervals of 10 to 15 seconds, stirring each time, until the chocolate is fully melted. Once fully melted, mix using a spoon.

You will be mesmerised by the silky smooth ganache. Make sure to cool it before using it on frostings. It usually cools fast, within 05 to 10 minutes.

12. Using a combed icing smoother, you can create lines around the cake.
13. Make a heart shaped cutout using parchment paper. Place it on the center.
14. Using a spoon, drizzle the ganache in quick motions on top of the cake and on the sides to create a drip effect. Gently remove the cutout and you can see the heart shape engraved.
15. Using your favorite piping tip, pipe dollops of the whipped cream frosting all around the cake and make a border for the heart shape. I used #Wilton4B tip.
16. Finally decorate with whole almonds on the dollops.

For the best taste, refrigerate at least an hour before serving. Enjoy! 🙂

Decoration tutorial: