This decadent and flavorful Italian almond cake is super easy to make and is bursting with almond flavor. The crumb is gooey, super moist and is to die for. Did I mention it is gluten-free (hooray!)?
Table of Contents
You can enjoy the slice of this heavenly cake with a cup of tea or coffee. This simple cake has a royal look and you can serve it at any formal or informal gathering. If you are a fan of almond flour bakes, try my Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies recipe as well.
Also a cake lover? Try Peach Cobbler Cake, Pecan Upside Down Cake, Southern Pecan Praline Cake and Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake.
Why This Recipe Works?
- Easy to Bake Cake: This cake is easy to bake and you need a few ingredients to bake it.
- Filled with Almond Flavor: The cake uses almond flour, almond extract and slivered almonds to decorate. This cake is loaded with almond flavor.
- Super Moist Cake: Have a look at the pictures of the cake and look at the moist and light crumb. It just melts in the mouth.
Use of Almonds in Baking
- Almonds are used in various forms in baking such as almond paste, almond flour, almond extract and slivered almonds.
- Both roasted and unroasted almonds are incorporated in baked items.
- Many countries in the world produce almonds and Italy is one of them. Sicily in Italy is famous for best almonds production in the world.
What Is Almond Flour?
To get almond flour you need to blanch almonds in boiling water until you can remove the skin of the almonds. Remove the skin and ground the almonds into fine flour. While you can make it at home, I prefer to get mine from the market.
Packed with Nutrients: Almond flour is full of nutrients such as Vitamin E, low glycemic index and abundance of magnesium. It also contains lower carbs as compared to wheat flour and helps with reducing LDL (bad) cholesterol and insulin resistance. In short, almond flour is highly nutritious and is a better choice than conventional flours for blood sugar with its low glycemic index.
Gluten Free: Almond flour is gluten-free and wheat-free. Anyone who has a gluten intolerance because of celiac disease and/or wheat intolerance can use almond flour as a substitute for many recipes.
Texture: The bakes with almond flour are flatter and denser as compared to wheat-flour. This happens because almond flour lacks gluten which is a key ingredient for wheat flour. Gluten helps with stretching and trapping more air into the dough, which consequently reacts with heat in the oven and makes the bakes voluminous.
Calories: The almond flour packs more calories than wheat flour (interesting – huh?). One ounce of almond flour has 163 calories and the wheat flour has 102 calories.
Variations
- Lemon Zest: Add one tablespoon of lemon zest in the recipe as lemon compliments almonds very well by adding a little tartness to the cake.
Ingredients
- Almond Flour: Blanched almond flour (I purchase mine from Costco). Do not use almond meal.
- Baking Powder: Make sure it is fresh and active.
- Salt: Enhances the sweetness of the cookies.
- Eggs: Helps with the structure of the cake. It also adds leavening, richness, color and flavor to the cake. Use at room temperature.
- Vegetable Oil: Helps with moist crumb of the cake.Castor Sugar – Used to sweeten the cake.
- Almond Extract: Enhances the almond flavor of the cake.
- Almond Slices: To decorate and add crunch to the moist cake.
Instructions
These are the pictures and instructions of different steps of this recipe. For detailed ingredients measurement and in-depth instructions please refer to the recipe card at the bottom.
1. Beat the eggs and sugar for 4 -5 minute until the eggs turn pale yellow in color and increase 2 - 3 times in size.
2. Keeping the electric mixer on medium speed add the almond extract, melted butter and oil until fully incorporated. The mixture should be thick and glossy at this point.
3. Beat the eggs and sugar for 4 -5 minute until the eggs turn pale yellow in color and increase 2 - 3 times in size.
4. Pour in the batter into the greased pan. Tap the pan on the counter a few times so that there are no air pockets.
5. Sprinkle the slivered almonds on the cake batter. Bake the Italian Almond Cake at 325 F in a preheated oven for about 35 - 40 minutes.
Expert Tips
- Room Temperature Ingredients: For best results make sure to use the ingredients at room temperature. It will help with better incorporation of the ingredients which will result in better results during baking.
- Let The Cake Cool Completely: Once the cake is out of the oven, leave it on the counter for about 15 minutes. Then take out the cake on one hand, remove the parchment paper layer in the bottom and let it cool down completely on the wire rack.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it is easy to bake the cake and keep it in a refrigerator for up to a week in an airtight container. However, it is best to enjoy the day it is baked.
The simple answer is yes. The only difference is that this recipe is gluten free and because we are using almond flour in this cake, the cake will not rise as much as it will with the all-purpose flour. The reason being almond flour is heavier than the regular all-purpose flour and the cakes will be dense and moist.
How To Store
- Store the cake in an airtight container for 3 – 4 days. You can serve it cold or at room temperature. You can also heat it in the microwave for a few seconds before serving.
- Keep this cake in an airtight container the refrigerator for about a week.
- Do not freeze the cake as it may alter the texture of this soft and crumbly cake.
Did you make this recipe and loved it? I'd love to hear about it. Please leave a 5-star 🌟 rating and a comment below. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. Also, subscribe to Bakecellence Newsletter for an amazing FREE e-book!
Related
Looking for more recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe
Italian Almond Cake
Equipment
- 1 9'' round cake pan
- 1 hand mixer
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup almond flour (170 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder (3 grams)
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup castor sugar (200 grams)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract (5 grams)
- ½ cup vegetable oil (109 grams)
- ½ cup almond slices (46 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F. Take a 9-inch round cake pan and spray it using a baking spray. Place parchment paper in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
- Take a bowl and combine almond flour, salt and baking powder.
- Take another large sized bowl and using an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar for 4 -5 minutes until the eggs turn pale yellow in color and increase 2 – 3 fold in size.
- Keeping the electric-mixer on medium speed add the almond extract, melted butter and oil until fully incorporated. The mixture should be thick and glossy at this point.
- Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Pour in the batter into the greased pan. Tap the pan on the counter a few times so that there are no air pockets.
- Sprinkle over the almond slices on the cake batter.
- Bake the cake for 35– 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean without crumbs.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before putting it on the wire rack.
Leave a Reply