Our 5th bake over at The Home Bakers (THB), where we are currently baking from "Coffee Cakes" by Lou Seibert Pappas. Emily from Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray has chosen Almond-Crusted Butter Cake as our fifth bake. If you have not heard of Emily, drop by her site, she's a super baker, who always bakes 3 types of bakes all in one night when she comes home from work! Now, isn't that super?
Almond cakes is one of my favourite, so I was really looking forward to this. This cake has a crust with flake almonds all around. It would definitely look nicer if baked in a bundt pan as shown in the book, or it can be baked in two loaf pans. Since I only made half a recipe, I baked this in a loaf pan. Flake almonds are scattered all over the greased pan, I did not scatter them over the bottom, now why didn't I do that, I have no idea! I placed the almonds a little too high in the pan, I realised that before I pour in the batter, but then I thought that the almonds would probably move its' position during baking, obviously I guessed wrong! The almonds stays where they are!
Look at the almonds all around the cake, almost like protecting the cake, a fortress in itself! Hahaha! The cake rises rather well even though there's no leavening used at all. The eggs must have done a very good job in helping it rise. I find it interesting that powdered sugar is used for this cake. I use about 180gm powdered sugar and still find it a little sweet.
The fragrance from the almond extract and the almond flakes are really nice. This cake has a rather compact texture with smooth crumbs. Though it is not as moist as most butter cakes, it is not dry at all, I like it. The only thing that I must really add on are the almond slices! Mine has got very little almonds, I realised that when I cut a slice to eat and wished there were more almonds at the sides!
Overall, this is a nice cake. Great with a cup of coffee and even tea.
Please visit Emily for the recipe and to view the other members bake on this cake, do drop by THB.
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THB is currently baking from Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas, if you would like to join in, please hop over to THB for details on how to become a member. Everyone's welcome!