Time for the May selection from The Cake Slice Bakers!
It was between this Amaretto Creme Cake or a Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake and because of ingredient procurement (mainly lavender oil and purple gel food coloring), I decided on the Amaretto Creme Cake.
Almond extract, almond flour, and amaretto are in this cake, so you definitely get that almond flavor!
The author of The European Cake Cookbook, Tatyana Nesteruk, described this cake as "light as air," but my cake ended up more like a flavorful almond pound cake. That's not a bad thing - I just wasn't expecting it.
This Amaretto Creme Cake is supposed to be six layers, but mine ended up being three layers. The layers baked up more thinly than anticipated and I was afraid they'd fall apart if I cut them in half.
Be prepared to use a lot of eggs in this cake (9!). It not a diet cake by any means. The layers are soaked with a cream/amaretto mixture, then slathered with a whipped cream/mascarpone frosting. A small piece goes a long way.
One thing I learned while making this cake is not to frost a cake with whipped cream frosting if the humidity is 100% and it's 85 degrees in your kitchen (duh!).
The cake started doing a sideways slidey job and I had to refrigerate it several times during the process.
I like this cake, but not as much as some others I've made from this cookbook (like the marvelous Chocolate St. Honore cake). The cake is a little heavy to me, but the whipped cream with mascarpone is wonderful!
Amaretto Creme Cake
Pound cake-like texture with a wonderful whipped cream/mascarpone frosting.
Ingredients
- 9 large eggs
- 1 ¼ C sugar
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ¼ C all-purpose flour
- ½ C fine almond flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Soaking Syrup
- ⅓ C amaretto
- ⅓ C cream
- For Cream (frosting)
- 3 C heavy cream, chilled
- ¾ C sugar
- 1 C mascarpone cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoon amaretto
- sliced almonds for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper and do not grease the sides.
- Place the eggs, sugar and almond extract into a stand mixture bowl and whisk on high speed for 7 to 8 minutes until eggs are pale yellow and tripled in volume.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, almond flour, and baking powder. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and sift the flour mixture into the egg mixture in three to four batches, folding gently, but thoroughly after each addition.
- Divide the batter evenly among the pans. Bake for 20 minutes, until the top is light brown. Remove from the oven and cool in the pans for a few minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edges of the cake to separate it from the pan. Cool completely.
- Once cooled, use a long, serrated knife to split each layer in half, creating six thin layers total.
- Prepare the amaretto syrup by combining the amaretto and the cream in a cup. Set aside.
- Prepare the mascarpone cream: place the chilled heavy cream and sugar into a stand mixture bowl and whisk on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until soft peaks form.
- In a separate bowl, cream together the softened mascarpone and amaretto for 1 minute until smooth. Add the mascarpone mixture to the whipped cream and whisk again for 1 to 2 minutes, until stiff peaks form.
- Assemble the cake: brush each sponge cake layer generously with the prepared amaretto syrup, then frost each layer with a generous amount of cream. Frost the top and sides of the cake, then garnish with almonds if desired. Store leftover cake in the refrigerator.
Notes
Tips and Stuff:
My cake layers were thin and I didn't want to try to slice the layers in half (thinking they would fall apart), so my cake was only three layers.
Be sure and mix the egg mixture for 7 to 8 minutes until tripled in volume - very important part of the recipe.
If your mascarpone and amaretto looks lumpy while mixing them together, place the bottom of the bowl in warm water. This lumpiness can happen if your mascarpone is too cold.
I had tons of the whipped cream frosting left, so I recommend cutting the recipe for it by a third (2 cups of cream instead of 3, etc.).
For easier coverage, after the initial frosting, put the cake in the refrigerator to set up a bit. It will be easier to complete the frosting.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 755Total Fat: 52gSaturated Fat: 28gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 268mgSodium: 301mgCarbohydrates: 58gFiber: 2gSugar: 44gProtein: 12g
Nutrition Values are Approximate
Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!
Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.
The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.
Kladdkaka-Sticky Chocolate Cake
Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake
Sirnek-Ukrainian Cherry Cheesecake
Amaretto Creme Cake
Kladdkaka-Sticky Chocolate Cake
- A Day in the Life on the Farm
- All That's Left Are The Crumbs
- Karen's Kitchen Stories
- A Little Bit Of All Right
Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake
Amaretto Creme Cake
Sirnek-Ukrainian Cherry Cheesecake
Courtney Brock
I loved the frosting, but it took two tries to get it right. What I had success with was modifying to use confectioner's sugar. I whisked together the mascarpone and cream and then added 2/3 cup of conf. sugar a little at a time, followed by the amaretto. Then I whipped to medium peaks.
The cake itself was very dense and thin. Almost the consistency of a scone. The flavor was good, but the texture was off. I believe I overmixed the eggs and sugar as the batter had bubbles as I poured it into the pan. I'll try this again using my method for Italian Cream Cake- cream the sugar with the egg yolks and then sift in dry ingredients. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form and then gently fold into the batter. I think this method would result in the fluffy layers this cake is meant to have.
sblades
Thanks for the info, Courtney. This cake came out heavier than I thought it should be when I made it, too. I do love that frosting, though, and plan on trying it again. Will try your Italian Cream Cake method next time.
Jenny
Love your blog! Thank you for the inspiration!
I made this gluten free with Cup 4 Cup flour. I increased the baking powder to 2tsp, to compensate for the gf flour. It didn’t come out too heavy. We quite like it, but then it’s the kind of cake we eat traditionally (Italian). Next time I’ll add more almond extract to the batter, and double the soaking syrup. We’re used to a cake with more liqueur.
sblades
Thanks for your comment, Jenny! It's interesting to see how you transitioned it to gluten free. Glad you enjoy the blog! 🙂
Kim Darling
I love the flavor of almonds in cake. I've had the same problem with sliding cake layers. It's frustrating.
Amanda
Beautiful! I'm a frosting girl, and that mascarpone whipped cream looks totally irresistible.
sblades
I thought the frosting was the best part!
Karen
Your photos are gorgeous, especially that first one! I've had cakes do the slidey thing too. Frustration!
sblades
Thanks Karen. I should've known better, but really was rushing to get it done so I could take pics!
Wendy Klik
A lovely cake. I adore almonds and love that you garnished with the toasted slices. YUM
sblades
Thank you, Wendy!