07.05.09

Sweet and Nutty…

Posted in Dessert, almonds at 11:12 pm by cecilia

The last two weeks have been especially busy, in a good way. I hosted my first summer truffle dinner. And my husband’s best friends are here in town from Australia. They brought their adorable 9-month-old son to meet us for the first time. We drove along the coast from southern Califronia and went camping with them and another couple plus their beautiful 15-month-old daughter in Big Sur. Then together with a big group of friends, we celebrated the 4th of July weekend. I want to share the experience and recipes of the truffle dinner with you. But I still have to get all the materials organized for that. Meanwhile, I want to quickly share a recipe of my almond flour cake that I made for our 4th of July beach day. These sweet treats were a big hit, especially after our surf session. I used Neufchâtel cheese in this recipe. But you can use crème fraîche, mascarpone cheese, or cream cheese. Any of these will make the cake ultra moist. Make sure everything is at room temperature. Here is the recipe.

Almond Cake

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup Neufchâtel cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups almond meal/flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup roasted sliced almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a regular size loaf pan or cake pan with butter or cooking spray.
2. Prepare the dry ingredients by mixing almond flour, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, and ground cinnamon in a medium bowl.
3. In a mixer, beat butter, Neufchâtel cheese, sugar, and brown sugar until well-blended and creamy.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating between each addition.
5. Beat in vanilla.
6. In two or three batches, slowly add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture while beating on medium speed until everything is incorporated.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on top of it.
8. Bake for 30-45 minutes depending on the depth of the pan. Check the progress with a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the cake after 30 minutes.
9. When the toothpick comes out clean, it’s done.
10. Serve with ice-cream or whipped cream.

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