This decadent and flavorful Italian almond cake is super easy to make and is bursting with almond flavor. You only need a few ingredients to bake this amazingly moist cake. The crumb is gooey, super moist and is to die for. Did I mention it is gluten-free (hooray!)? Are you a cake lover like me? Try my Peach Cobbler Cake, Pecan Upside Down Cake, Southern Pecan Praline Cake and Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake.
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.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works?
- Easy to Bake: 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 almonds are blanched in boiling water until the skin of the almonds be removed easily. The almonds are then ground 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.
Ingredients
Pro Tip # 1 - Room Temperature Ingredients
Always use room temperature ingredients (unless otherwise specified) for baking. Ingredients such as butter, eggs and other dairy ingredients like milk, sour cream, yogurt form an emulsion by trapping air inside the batter. The trapped air expands in the oven resulting in perfect baked treats.
- 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.
Pro Tip # 2 - Digital Scale
Use a digital scale to measure all-purpose flour and other dry ingredients. To measure with cup, fluff up the all-purpose flour container using a spoon, then scoop out the flour with spoon into the measuring cup. Never scoop out of the container. It may result in more flour than required resulting in dense bakes.
Instructions
These are basic process shots for this recipe. For detailed instructions refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
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.
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.
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? Give it a 5-star 🌟 rating with a comment. Join our Classy & Delicious newsletter to get a free ebook and weekly recipes. Stay connected on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Tiktok as well.
Related
Looking for other 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 g)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder (3 g)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup castor sugar (200 g)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract (5 g)
- ½ cup vegetable oil (109 g)
- ½ cup almond slices (46 g)
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.
Jay
The recipe doesn’t have an amount for salt or am I blind lol
Madeeha Anwar
No, you're not. I have added the amount of salt in the recipe card. Hope it helps and that you will try the cake. Thanks.