I made this thrice already- that one time for my friend and the other two times for my family. I used hazelnuts for the other version, and my family loved it so much. Since this is a pretty flexible cake, any type of nut will go well with this. I am pretty sure that you will acquire new fans when you present this as your dessert. Everyone will fall in love with this- a classic cake recipe that will never fail anyone who gets fortunate enough to taste it.
Check what our friends from Always Order Dessert have to say about this recipe:
“This recipe produces a pretty perfect yellow cake. It’s like the perfect grown-up version of those classic box mix cakes. Perfect for a birthday party (or if you’re just feeling a bit nostalgic). It’s moist, springy, not overly dense, but not too light either. Flavored with pure almond extract I like it layered with a whipped chocolate ganache frosting and topped with a few generous handfuls of salted marcona almonds.”
I used to eat cakes made from cake mixes too because I think there’s nothing wrong with them. But of course, there’s nothing better than cakes made from scratch. You can control everything when you make it from scratch.
Ingredients
For the cake:
3 cups King Arthur cake flour (or 2 3/4 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour + 1/4 cup Argo corn starch)
2 1/2 teaspoons Clabber Girl baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup Land O Lakes butter, room temperature
2 cups Domino granulated white sugar
4 large Eggland’s eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon McCormick pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons McCormick pure almond extract
1/4 teaspoon Great Value yellow food coloring (optional, but enhances the yellow-ness of the cake)
1 cup Borden whole milk
For the chocolate frosting:
1 cup Borden heavy cream
2 cups Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon instant espresso (optional)
2 cups Kirkland salted marcona almonds, for garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line two 9” square cake pans (or two 10” round cake pans or 3 8” round cake pans) with parchment paper.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the base of an electric mixer, beat softened butter and sugar for at least 5 minutes or until light, fluffy, and multiplied several times in volume. (Don’t skip this step!)
Add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until each one is beat in completely before adding the next.
Stir in the vanilla and almond extract, and the milk.
Stir in the flour mixture by hand, just until completely combined with no dried spots.
Bake 30-35 minutes, or until fully baked, golden and slightly pulling away from the sides. Let cool in pan 10 minutes before flipping out onto a rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting while the cake bakes: Heat heavy cream in a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan just until bubbles start to form. Remove from heat and add the chocolate chips, salt, and espresso. Whisk continuously until melted and smooth. Pour into the base of a mixer (or a large bowl) and let cool completely. Once cool, use the mixer with a whisk attachment and beat until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume.
To assemble cake. Place one layer on a serving dish. Top with half the ganache, then the second cake layer. Top with the rest of the ganache, then garnish with salted marcona almonds.
USE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW.
Quick Tip: You can frost it all the way, if you want.
Thanks again to Always Order Dessert for this amazing recipe.
