Swedish Burnt Almond Cake....

In honor of my 200th blog...yes, that is right 200 blogs since September 7th....my how time flies when you are having fun.....I am sharing this recipe for a great celebration cake...I love cake, you can have pie, I'll take the cake! Homemade cake is the best, I love that it is sturdy and cakish , and homemade butter cream frosting....there is nothing better....

White Cake


2 3/4 cups Unbleached Cake Flour
1 2/3 cups sugar; superfine sugar is best
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs whites plus 1 whole large egg
1 cup full-fat vanilla yogurt or 1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare pans by greasing and flouring, or lining with parchment, then greasing the parchment.

2) 2) Mix all of the dry ingredients on slow speed to blend. Add the soft butter and mix until the mixture becomes crumbly. Increase the speed of the mixer and continue to mix until the crumbs begin to cling together. The mixture may or may not become totally cohesive and paste-like; it's OK if it does, and equally OK if it doesn't.

3) Add the egg whites one at a time, then the whole egg, beating well after each addition to begin building the structure of the cake. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.

4) In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt (or milk) with the vanilla and almond extracts. Add this mixture, 1/3 at a time, to the batter. Beat 1 to 2 minutes after each addition, until fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

5) Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes for 8" or 9" rounds; 23 to 26 minutes for a 9" x 13" x 2" sheet cake; or 18 to 20 minutes for cupcakes. A toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center will come out clean when done. Remove from the oven, remove from the pan, if desired, cool on a rack, and frost.

Yield: Two 8" or 9" round layers; one 9"x 13" x 2" sheet cake, or 20 to 24 cupcakes.

Here is the ingredients for the cake, all ready to go....

very important to mix the dry ingredients for a few minutes, it adds some air, that will make the cake lighter

add the butter and mix until crumb like.....

mix the eggs in one at a time, very important to scrape the bowl after each addition....

Then in comes the wet ingredients....

finish the mixing and ...

pour into prepared pans....

I wanted to make a one layer cake, split in the middle with a filling, so I made cupcakes out of the rest of the cake mixture.....

spread evenly in the pan.....

into the oven......

and cool off when they come out of the oven before frosting.....

Filling

2 egg yolks
1 cup of cream
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

put all in top of double boiler and cook whisking for about 5 minutes, until it is thick and pudding like, will coat the back of the spoon, place in dish to cool for a couple of hours...put plastic wrap directly on top to prevent a skin from forming on top of the filling.....

place all ingredients in the top of a double boiler....

and cook, stirring until thick.....

place in bowl, with saran on top and chill in the refrigerator...

Buttercream frosting....

1/2 cup of softened butter
1/4 cup of cream
1 lb of powdered sugar
1 tsp of vanilla

cream butter in the mixer with the cream and i cup of the powdered sugar till creamy, slowly add the remaining sugar, adding more sugar if it is to thin and more cream if it is to thick.....

butter, cream and 1 cup of powdered sugar.....mix till creamy...

add the rest of the sugar and mix until light and fluffy and spreadable.....

Burnt Almonds.....

In a large cast iron skillet toast 1 8oz package of sliced (not slivered) almonds.

Then sprinkle 1 Cup powdered sugar over almonds.
Stir constantly as not to burn the almonds.
Once the sugar is melted, add another 1/2 C. of powdered sugar to the almonds.
Your almonds should be brown in color and the aroma should be sweet toasted nuts.
Take off the heat and then spread on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper to cool

place the almonds in a heavy bottom skillet....and toast... (best deal on nuts? trader joes, this much was like a quarter)

add the sugar and toast., some more,....you will smell the almonds and sugar burning, stir often so they all cook evenly......

When you are scared that they will all be ruined, take them off and spread on a cookie sheet...

Now it is time to assemble the cake....

cut the layer in half with a long serrated knife...again if you baked a 2 layer cake you could be filling both halves and have a much taller cake....

place filling on bottom half......

I used lingonberry preserves for the filling but raspberry compote or apricot would also be great....(but lingonberry is the swedish part of the cake)

spread on other half of cake...kind of like making a sandwich...

place that half on top and you are ready to frost.....

start with the sides, don't you want to wipe off that drip of the filling?...me too....

now frost the top....I smoothed mine and piped around the edges, but you could also just make some nice fluffy waves on top......

press the nuts around the sides.......

and a little on the top, right in the middle and it is ready to serve!

oh..... and here is what I did with the cupcakes, I put a little of yellow food coloring in the same frosting recipe and piped it on top....I bought these great marshmallows at Williams and Sonoma...So cute.....

Doesn't it look so good? I should have a contest on 'guess whose thumb that is' and it is not mine.......Thank you so much for following me, and all the encouragement and kindwords....It means so much to me...So please join me in a piece of celebration cake and raise a glass and lets all say together...

Cheers to Happy  !