The Best Almond Cake is an easy one layer cake. It has a dense crumb and a crunchy toasted almond topping. This is rustic simplicity at it’s best. Perfect for Easter, Mother’s Day or just because!
WHY THIS IS THE BEST ITALIAN CAKE
- Easy and quick to prepare!
- Simple ingredients ~ made without almond paste.
- Rustic appearance ~ this is a one layer cake that has a toasted almond top and needs no fussy decorating.
- Texture ~ the almond cake has a dense and soft crumb with the best sweet and crunchy almond topping.
- Perfect with a cup of coffee or tea!
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
- Butter the baking pan and lightly dust with flour, which will help to make removing the cake from the springform pan easy.
- Eggs yolks and egg whites separate best when they are cold.
- Save one of the egg whites for the toasted almond topping.
- Use the toothpick test to tell when the almond cake has finished baking; when just a few moist crumbs remain on the toothpick the cake is done.
PREP TIME: 15 minutes
BAKE TIME: 45 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
Almond Cake
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (156g)
- ¼ cup almond flour (28g) (I like Bob’s Red Mill)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled (113g)
- 1 large egg
- 4 large egg yolks (save at least one white for the topping)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Almond topping
- 1 ½ cups sliced blanched almonds
- 1 large egg white
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- confectioners’ sugar (optional for dusting over finished cake)
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Lightly butter 9 inch spring form pan and dust with flour and tap out any excess.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour (1 ¼ cups/156g), almond flour (¼ cup/28g), kosher salt (½ teaspoon), baking powder (½ teaspoon) and ground cinnamon (1 teaspoon). Set aside.
- Melt the unsalted butter (½ cup/113g) and set aside to cool.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the egg (one large), egg yolks (4 large yolks) and sugar (1 cup/200g) on medium (speed 4 or 6 on a KitchenAid mixer) until thick and pale yellow, approximately 3 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture; mixing until well combined. Scrape up and down the sides of the bowl, and then mix in vanilla extract (1 teaspoon) followed by the melted butter. The batter will be quite thick and a bit sticky.
- Adjust your mixer to medium speed and beat for 30 more seconds.
- Spread the batter evenly in your prepared pan. The batter is quite thick; I use an off-set spatula.
- Make the topping: Place the sliced almonds in a bowl. Lightly beat the one egg white in a small bowl until foamy and light.
- Pour half of the egg white over the almonds and stir to coat them evenly. Discard remaining egg white.
- Sprinkle the granulated sugar (3 tablespoons) over the almond and egg white mixture and toss to coat.
- Spread the almond mixture evenly over the surface of your cake batter.
- Bake 35-45 minutes until it’s golden brown on top and a cake tester come out mostly clean.
- Allow cake to cool 10 minutes in the pan, then remove the sides and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
- Once cool dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.
Notes:
To serve: remove cake from the bottom of the spring form pan with an offset spatula and transfer to a serving plate or cake stand.
Wrap any left over cake and store at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Nutritional Info:
YIELD: 12 SERVING SIZE: 1
Amount Per Serving: CALORIES: 389TOTAL FAT: 21gSATURATED FAT: 7gTRANS FAT: 0gUNSATURATED FAT: 13gCHOLESTEROL: 129mgSODIUM: 197mgCARBOHYDRATES: 44gFIBER: 3gSUGAR: 31gPROTEIN: 9g