vanilla almond cake with almond buttercream frosting
One word to describe this cake: Absolutely delicious (okay, that’s two, but I had to add the “absolutely” for emphasis). I made this awhile back, and it was one of the most tasty cakes that I’ve ever had. The cake is super moist and just a bit dense (which I love). In each bite, you get a perfect combination of rich, almondy cake and fluffy buttercream frosting. It was gone before we could even think about saving some for later.
Also! I’m just learning how to frost cakes, and I think this was a pretty good first attempt! 😊
Ingredients
3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/4 c (300g) heavy cream, room temperature
1/2 c (120g) sour cream, room temperature
1 c (225g) European style unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c (100g) refined coconut oil, soft but not melted
2 1/4 c (450g) sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste or extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract, optional
Directions
To make the cake layers: preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and line the bottoms of three 8” cake pans with parchment and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder, and then lightly stir in the salt and set aside. In a large measuring cup, whisk together the heavy cream and sour cream and set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, coconut oil, and sugar on medium high for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add the vanilla and almond extract, if using. Reduce the mixer to medium low and add the dry mixture and cream mixture in 3 alternating additions, mixing until just combined. Distribute the batter evenly between the cake pans and spread it out evenly.
Bake until the tops of the cakes are just starting to turn brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs on it; begin checking for doneness at 30 minutes and try not to let it overbake. Let it cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
My Notes
The original recipe calls this cake a vanilla butter cake, but I find that the almond extract flavor really shines through, so I call it a vanilla almond cake.
The recipe calls for 2 1/4 cups of sugar, but I reduced it to one cup of sugar, because I wanted my cake a little less sweet.
Make sure to eat this cake day of or store in freezer
Almond Frosting
Recipe adapted from Molly Yeh
Directions
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the butter and gradually pour in the powdered sugar. Mix in the salt, vanilla, almond extract, and heavy cream until creamy.
My Notes
The original recipe calls this frosting a Marzipan frosting, as it uses blanched almonds. I skipped the blanching and adding almonds step, and decided to just use the almond extract to add that almondy flavor. This is why I call the frosting an almond frosting.
Ingredients
1 c (340g) European style unsalted butter, room temperature
5 c (600g) powdered sugar
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste or extract
1 tsp. almond extract, optional
3 tbsp. (45g) heavy cream
