Almond Cake with Orange Marmalade

A year back, I made my first tart, Bakewell Tart. Everyone loved it especially the almond frangipane layer, which was almost like a sponge cake. I kept thinking about making the tart again, but then it didn't happen for a long time. Now when my friend Sobha's birthday came, I knew the time was right. But this time I didn't make the tart, but a cake made of the frangipane. And I'm calling it as Almond Cake. I even spread orange marmalade between the layers. And it was DELICIOUS ! :-)

Recipe inspired from Bakewell Tart

For the Cake:

Unsalted Butter - 250g

Icing Sugar - 250g

Eggs - 6

Ground Almonds - 250g

All purpose Flour - 60g

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Orange Marmalade to spread between the cake layers

For the Icing:

Heavy whipping cream - 250 ml

Icing sugar - 2-3 tbsp

• Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
• Butter and flour two 9 inch round pans
• Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is pale yellow in colour and very fluffy. 
• Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. 
• Now add vanilla extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. 
• Spoon in the ground nuts and the flour to the mix.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pans and bake for about 30-40 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. 
•  Allow to cool.
•  Whip the cream with the sugar until it's thick.

How to assemble:

•  Place the first cake and spread Orange Marmalade.You can go as thick or thin as you want.
• Place the second cake and spread the whipped cream over the cake.
• Spread it evenly on top of the cake and also on the side.
• Decorate with orange slices

Lemon Cake

I love lemons and I love cakes. So for me this cake satisfies my cravings, both ways. The lemony aroma which fills the kitchen when its baking...hmm.. its so heavenly!!

This recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson's :How to be a Domestic Goddess - Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking". This time I used Egg Beaters - a healthy alternative for eggs. I know nothing could replace eggs in a cake without comprising the flavor or the texture. But I must say with egg beaters, this cake came close to moist and dense - which is what eggs does in a cake. The best part for this cake comes after the baking when you soak this cake in a lemon syrup...Yummy!!!!!!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

Eggs - 4
Butter - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Milk - 3/4 cup
Zest of 2 lemons

For the syrup:

Powdered Sugar - 3/4 cup
Juice of 1 lemon

How to prepare:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degree F
• Butter and line a 9 X 4 inch cake pan
• Sift together flour and baking powder and keep aside
• Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy
• Add eggs and lemon zest, beating them well
• Add the flour and milk alternatively and mix well
• Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 45 min or until a skewer inserted comes clean
• In a saucepan, add lemon juice and sugar and heat gently until the sugar is dissolved. Add little water if the syrup becomes thick.
• Once the cake is baked, puncture the top the cake and pour the syrup all over.
• Let the cake cool thoroughly before taking out of the pan.

Honey Cake

It has been a while that I baked anything.And my taste buds were itching for something sweet and home baked. Once we shifted to new apartment, time flew by while we set up our new home, trying to figure out what and where to keep. Then came my birthday when i thought of making myself a cake(not that i didn't get a cake, but that was completely consumed as face paint :)), but fell short of materials. And when I was waiting for that perfect moment, I got bad cold and sore throat.. Too bad... But little did I know that idea for this cake would come from a cold and sore throat!!! As I was gulping down honey(which is supposed to relive sore throat),I just thought how good(or bad) will it be if I make a cake with honey.


I did a little research and was astonished to know that honey cake is very popular over here . In fact this cake is specially baked during Jewish New Year Celebration. Anyways this cake turned to be the rich, warm and ultra moist. I was bit worried that the crust was sunken, but who cared when my taste buds were completely satisfied when I dug into cake.

Recipe adapted from "Marcy Goldman's A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking"

Ingredients:

Eggs - 2
Oil - 2/3 cup
All purpose flour - 1 3/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Nutmeg powder - A pinch
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Honey - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Orange juice - 1/4 cup
Brewed coffee - 2 tablespoon

How to prepare:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
• Butter and dust 9 inch round pan
  
• Combine together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, baking powder in a small bowl.
• Beat together eggs and sugar in a large bowl until well combined.
• Add honey, oil, orange juice and coffee and mix until blended.
• Add flour mixture and mix until just combined
• Pour batter into pan and bake for 40-45 min. Since this batter is thinner than usual cake batter,it might take more time for baking.
• After 40-45 min, check the cake by inserting a knife or fork into the cake.If it comes out clean, then the cake is ready.Otherwise keep baking until its done, frequently checking the cake.
• Once done, take the cake out and cool it completely.
• Serves 8-10 persons.