Sometimes you feel like a nut

First guest post (!)...sort of.  Since I'm actually supposed to be working on my final thesis report and presentation, my awesome roommate is letting me steal one of her baked goods for my post this week.  Lucky for me, it happens to be my FAVORITE CAKE EVER.  I mean, like, ever ever.  Whenever Kayle makes this almond cake I seriously go a bit nutso (get it? haha).  The entire apartment gets filled with this amazing almond smell that seriously makes me drool in a totally un-gross way.  Unfortunately, this particular cake was destined for one of her lab meetings which meant I was not allowed to have any...major sadface.  I probably looked so depressed about this that she ended up sneaking a piece back home for me the next day - yay!  Thanks Kay!!

This almond cake is pretty easy to make, and because it's a cake (and not a cupcake), it's good for those days when you just want to stick something in the oven and be done with it.  There is no extract or actual almonds in the cake - the delicious flavor comes from an almond filling which you can find in baking aisles and/or in the kosher section of a supermarket.  Kayle always bakes her almond cakes in a tube pan, which has a removable insert and a flat bottom, unlike its bundt pan cousin.  I tend not to stray from anything she does!

So, I've preached (like twice now) about making sure you get cupcakes/cookies off their baking sheets as quickly as possible, but this isn't the case with cakes.  You have a big chance of breaking cakes if you pull them out of the tins too early.  So how do you keep from over-baking the cakes?  Umm... under-bake them!  Take into account the fact that the cake will cook for a bit longer after you take it out of the oven.  This almond cake in particular is way better when it's under-baked just a tad.  You can then let it cool in the pan and it should pop out easily.  If you do think you've accidentally left the cake in for too long, try to get the cake out of the pan as quickly as you can handle it, while being very careful, and wrap that baby in saran wrap!  It's a trick I use for every banana bread loaf I make - it just locks the moisture in as soon as possible.

Almond Cake

2 ¼ cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

12 ounces almond filling (Kay uses the Solo brand)

¼ cup milk

Preheat the oven at 350°F and position rack in the center of the oven.

Grease the tube pan with butter, then add a tablespoon of flour and tap the flour to cover all the butter.  Tap out all excess flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In another medium bowl or the bowl of a standup mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy.  Add the sugar gradually and cream well.  Add eggs one at a time, allowing each to be incorporated before adding the next.  Scrape down the bowl.  Add half of the dry ingredients with the mixer at low speed.  Add milk, then the remaining flour mixture, and allow batter to come together.  Lastly, incorporate the almond filling.

Pour batter into the tube pan and smooth the top with a spatula.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until cake is lightly browned.  Allow the cake to cool in pan.

Tiffany (& Kayle!)