Maple Almond Cake
This moist, soft Maple Almond Cake has the perfect balance of flavors. It is moist, soft, and perfect for fall and winter!
Servings: 15 servings
Ingredients
- ½ cup (48g) sliced almonds, crushed (To be added to the pans before the batter)
- 1 ½ sticks (170g) unsalted butter, softened. (holds it shape but dents when pressed)
- 1¼ cups sugar (250g)
- ½ cup light brown sugar (100g)
- ½ cup pure maple syrup (we used dark maple syrup)
- 4 large eggs, room temperature (If in a hurry, place eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.)
- 3 cups cake flour (342g)See notes for substitution if needed. (If not using a scale, lightly spoon flour into measuring cup and level off).
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk (296g) See notes for substitution if needed.
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (54g) (We use canola oil.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
- 1½ teaspoons almond extract (6g)
- 2 teaspoons maple extract (8g) (We used McCormick Brand)
For the Almond Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (339g)
- 16 oz cream cheese (total weight 452g),softened. (We use two 8 oz packages) Full fat is best.
- 2 teaspoons almond extract (8g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (2g)
- 7 cups powdered sugar (adjust slightly up or down to your liking) (805g)
Maple Glaze
- We used pure Maple Syrup as a glaze for our cake layers - You won't need much- maybe ¼ cup or so in total. Enough to apply a light coating to the top of each layer.
Cake Decoration
- We used additional sliced almonds to decorate the cake and created texture in the frosting using a small offset spatula. We piped chunky shells and rosettes for the top border using a large star tip (1M).
Instructions
Prepare Pans and Add Chopped Almonds
- Chop/crush the sliced almonds into smaller pieces . (You can use a small bullet blender for this, or you could place in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush.)
- Grease and flour three 8 inch round pans, add a circle or parchment paper or waxed paper. Sprinkle the finely chopped almonds over the parchment paper before adding the cake batter.
For the Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside
- In another bowl, add the buttermilk, maple syrup, vegetable oil and extracts (maple, almond, and vanilla). Set aside..
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth.
- Gradually add the brown and white sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time mixing after each addition until the yellow of the yolk has blended.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of liquid). Mix just until incorporated.
- Divide batter between the three cake pans, pouring the batter on top of the finely chopped almonds on the bottom of the pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 22 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just few crumbs attached. Let cool 10 minutes and turn out.
For the Almond Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
- Cut the softened cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
- Add the almond extract. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel if needed to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.
- Increase mixing speed slightly until well combined. Be careful not to over-mix as it will become very soft. (If this happens, chill it in the refrigerator for a bit.)
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and then bring out to the kitchen counter to soften up a bit. (Re-mix if needed).
- Will frost and fill a 3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake.
Assembling the Cake
- Place the first *cooled* cake layer on a cake base or pedestal. Brush with a thin layer of maple syrup. This is an optional step. It is not needed for moistness, but it does add an added boost of maple flavor.
- Spread a layer of almond cream cheese frosting on top of the cake layer. Add the second layer and repeat step(s). After lightly glazing the final cake layer, I placed it glazed-side down on top. It may not make a difference but I did this just in case it would make it easier to frost.
- Next, fill in any gaps between the cake layers with frosting and apply a thin coat of frosting (or crumb coat) around the top and sides of the cake. At this point we like to chill the cake for about 15 minutes in the freezer to firm up the frosting. This firms everything up and prevents the layers from sliding as you decorate. Apply the final coat of frosting.
Decorating the Cake
- Decorate the cake however you like! We added scalloped impressions around the cake using a small rounded offset spatula (working in vertical rows from top to bottom, and repeating all the way around.) The border of chunky shells and rosettes is piped from a 1M piping tip (large star).
Storing the Cake
- This cake should be refrigerated in an airtight container or under a cake dome until within 2-3 hours of serving. Bringing the cake closer to room temperature before serving will give the cake and frosting time to warm and soften.
Notes
Substitute for Buttermilk: No Buttermilk? Here is a substitution: To a measuring cup, add 1 Tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice. Add milk to the 1 ¼ mark, stir. Wait 5 minutes and it is ready to use.
Substitution for Cake Flour: Using all purpose flour (plain in UK) to make Cake Flour: For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend
Recipe makes 7 ½ cups batter