ricotta almond cake

I want to make this some day soon:
http://www.italianfoodforever.com/2014/04/ricotta-almond-cake/

Bookmarking because I want to make it:

Peach Frangipane tart

Almond Bundt Cake III (I think, for this blog)

I used this recipe:
http://www.bubblews.com/news/914894-almond-bundt-cake-recipe

but I made my own almond paste, using this recipe:
http://candy.about.com/od/nutcandyrecipes/r/Easy-Almond-Paste.htm
(actually, I used 3/4 of that recipe - 12 oz out of a supposed 16). I used blanched slivered almonds from trader joes and I doubled the amount of almond extract it called for. It looks nice and smooth and not homemade at all. I let it process for a long long time.

For the cake itself - the recipe's unclear but I mixed the sugar with the almond paste first (I pretty much had to use my hands instead of hte mixer) and then added in the butter. It took some strength to get it done--I was glad for my heavy glass bowl, which stayed in place as I used to hands to corral the mixer. (Oh to have a KitchenAid!)

I was happy with how it turned out. Also this bundt cake was a little taller than some bundt cakes I've made (my pan has tall sides so cakes never fill it up entirely.  It says 10-15 cups on it.) 

Almond cake!

Last night I made this:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/06/almond-cake-recipe/

I made it in a 8.5x8.5 square pan. I'm convinced it would have been nicer in a round pan, but ya do what ya have to, right? I don't have a round pan right now.

Wouldn't this have been prettier if it were round?

It was good, but unfortunately I used salted butter instead of unsalted by accident, and I think the salt overwhelmed the almond taste a little bit. It wasn't bad, but almond's a delicate flavor and doesn't stand up to salt the way that chocolate or caramel does. I bet it'll be fabulous with the correct butter. And it's definitely a bit better after it's had some time to sit - it gets moister and the flavor matures somehow.

So I'll have to try again.

Also, n.b., Bob the food processor, whose work bowl is only about 7 cups or so, was a tight fit for this cake. I had to dump the batter into a separate bowl before adding the flour. Not surprising, really--poor Bob has always been on the small side, as much good food as I pour into him.


Text of recipe reproduced after the jump in case it ever goes away (because you bet I want to make this again):

Solo Almond Bundt Cake

From http://www.solofoods.com/recipes/almond-bundt-cake
This cake requires a can of Solo brand "Almond Cake and Pastry Filling" and the recipe is generally printed on the back side of the can's label.This stuff has ground almonds in it but it's NOT equivalent to marzipan. It's kind of hard to find; in the San Francisco Bay area I've only seen it at Andronico's, even though I've seen Solo products advertised in Lucky's circulars occasionally. At some point I'd like to figure out how to replicate it without the canned stuff, both 'cause it's pricey ($5/can) and because it has corn syrup in it (which I'm not terribly against in moderation, but if I'm baking, why not use real sugar?)  In the meantime I make it anyway, because it's more almondy than the other almond bundt recipe I tried.

ANYWAY. I don't really modify this recipe at all:

1 cup butter (or margarine), softened

2 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1 can Solo Almond Cake and Pastry Filling (protip: open one end of the can, the flip it over the bowl and start opening the other end. That will break the suction/vacuum and it'll all fall out of the can neatly in one chunk.)

1⁄4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in almond filling until blended. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt until mixed. Add to almond mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.  Beat until blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack.

Almond Bars

(from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/almond-bars/)
This is the weirdest recipe I've made in a while. I thought it would be more like a brownie minus the chocolate flavor/color, but they're cakey and sort of spongy. (My guess is this is due to beating the eggs and sugar, and also due to the two cups of flour; brownie recipes would have less flour for this size pan.) They seem better after a few hours/the next day when they're a little more dense.

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9x13 pan (I used flour+grease Pam spray.)

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar (I used less, between 1.5 and 1.75 cups, which is plenty)
  
• 1 cup butter, melted (I used salted butter)
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract (I used a little more, almost a tablespoon)

Beat the sugar and eggs with mixer. Add in butter, flour, almond extract. Mix well. Spread into pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out clean. (I was worried they'd be underbaked at that point, but they were fine. They seemed weird until they cooled and sat for a while.)

Almond Bundt Cake

Quick and dirty notes:
Used this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Glazed-Almond-Bundt-Cake/Detail.aspx

Put in closer to 3 tsp of almond extract and 1.5 tsp of vanilla extract.
As per usual, used salted butter and omitted the added salt.
The batter didn't seem to have as much volume as I remembered bundt cakes having, but it's been a while and it expanded enough to fill the pan to a decent extent.
Baked for 60 minutes (on a low rack of the oven.) My oven miraculously stayed very close to 350 the entire time! It could have taken a tad less time but definitely not more, and it wasn't burned.

It was good but I feel like it could use more almond flavor somehow, maybe with a little less sweetness.

almond brownies

Adapted from http://www.carascravings.com/2010/03/pps-best-brownies-ever.html

1 cup butter (salted)
8 oz unsweetened chocolate
~2 cups sugar
2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
scant 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1.5 cups almond meal

Melt butter and chocolate on stove. Stir in extracts and sugar. Let cool slightly. Add egg and baking powder. Stir well. Stir in almond meal. Spread into greased square (8x8?) pan and bake at 325.

We'll see what happens...