Almond Joy

I love weekends. It's probably safe to say that most anyone that works Monday-Friday would agree, but I mean it. I really love weekends. Waking up on Saturday morning knowing there's no rush. Having time to have a legit breakfast. No panic when, for some unexplainable reason, it took 10 extra minutes to get your hair dry, so now you're late for your 7:30 meeting. Anyway, you get the idea.


With most of my family and friends up north snowed-in this weekend from the giant snow storm, or as the DC Metro area so artistically coined it "Snowpocalpse", I found myself missing the feeling that comes with these winter storms. Don't get me wrong, my interest with snow decreased drastically as soon as snow days were no longer a part of my winter schedule, but just like most other things from home, I do still miss it from time to time. So, this afternoon I found myself baking away--just as though there was 36 inches of snow in the driveway. In reality, it was just a light mist and in the high 40s.


Anyway, back to the good stuff. I tried an almond cake the weekend. I've found myself trying more cakes lately. I always thought that I didn't like cake. Turns out, I just didn't like boxed cake. I was pretty adamant about this, too. To the point that Tim and I decided to have cobbler at our wedding. The guy looked at us strangely when we insisted on peach cobbler and not cake, but seriously, most of it is not good. However, I can promise you that this one is. On a related note, I won't be winning any awards for presentation anytime soon and I can say that with confidence. If I ever end up in a food competition (which I can't imagine the ridiculous string of events that would have to occur to make this happen since I have no interest in competitive cooking) I will lose because I will receive a big fat zero in presentation. I like to tell myself that it motivates me to actually make it taste good. If the package is ugly, you better have something fairly impressive inside.


The almond cake I made this weekend is a spot-on example of this.



Fortunately, it looks like this pretty quickly.




Basic Almond Cake

2 sticks plus 3 tbs. of unsalted butter, softened
1 tsb baking soda
2 c. sifted flour
1/2 tsb sea salt
1 1/2 c. sugar
8 oz almond paste
4 egg yolks
1 tsb. almond extract
1 c. milk
1 tsp white vinegar


Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy (paddle attachment works best). Chop almond paste into small pieces and add one at a time to fluffy butter mixture until combined. Then mix for approximately 6 more minutes. Add the egg yolks, one at a time until incorporated.
Combine milk, vinegar, almond extract, and baking soda in a small bowl and then add to the main mixture.
Combine flour and sea salt and add to the mixture a little at a time, just until combined.

Pour into a well-greased, parchment paper-lined 8" or 9" pan, depending on your preference for thickness. Either works fine. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, depending on the size of pan. I have noticed that the time on this cake seems to vary, just be sure to check with a knife or fork before removing. If it comes out clean, you're ready to go.

For serving, some basic whipped cream or powdered sugar would be fine. The cake is rich enough that it doesn't need much and it's very moist. Also, you could sprinkle some demerara on the raw batter before it bakes. It creates a nice sweet, crunchy crust when done.