This month's Cake Slice Baker choice is a Breton Butter Almond Cake.
I've heard about his classic French cake forever and was excited about making it. My husband raised his eyebrows at 'no frosting,' but I assured him he would like it.
This is an amazing cake! All that butter and three different flours came together to create a buttery, incredible, addictive cake.
It's kind of like if the best buttery homemade shortbread you've ever had was made into a cake.
I've always said I don't like using almond flour, but I'm slowly becoming a believer.
The almond flour in this cake adds a very nice texture. You'll also be using cake flour and all-purpose flour.
Seems like a lot of different kinds of flour to have on hand, but I assure you that you'll use them up in other wonderful recipes. You can search on any of them on my site and find some great recipes!
Don't forget to butter your tart pan. It really helps when you go to get it out of the pan.
Breton Butter Almond cake best cooled completely and keeps at room temperature for several days.
This cake is fairly easy to put together and is really incredibly delicious.
The original recipe calls for a couple of tablespoons of rum, but I don't prefer desserts with liquor with them. Instead, I added ½ teaspoon of almond flavoring (highly recommended) and an extra teaspoon of vanilla.
You don't need topping with this, but if you insist, make up a batch of whipped cream and drop a few blueberries on top.
Speaking of the top, the top of this cake with slathered with a beaten egg (you probably won't use the entire egg). Then make that pretty cross-hatch design with the tines of a fork. Be sure and press firmly when you make the design - you can see mine kind of faded away after baked because I didn't apply enough pressure.
I hope you try this kind. It looks simple and plain, but it's a really amazing French buttery cake. Take a look at the other Cake Slice Bakers' choices below the recipe.
Breton Butter Almond Cake
Kind of dense, but wonderfully-textured French butter cake. The flavor is amazing - I call it 'an amazing French pound cake.'
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ C (284 g) butter, room temperature
- ¾ C (150 g) granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
- ½ C (50 g) almond flour
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon milk
- 1 C (120 g) cake flour
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 C (120 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 whole egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9 or 9 ½" fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.
- In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar at medium speed until pale and smooth. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, until completed blended in. (Scrape down the sides as needed.) Add the almond flour, almond extract, vanilla and only 1 tablespoon of the milk. Continue beating until completely combined.
- Turn the mixer to low and add ½ cup of the cake flour, along with the salt. Mix, then add the remaining ½ cup of the cake flour. Remove the bowl from the stand and, using a rubber spatula, fold in the all-purpose flour, ½ cup at a time, until no streaks of flour or visible. Fold in the remaining tablespoon of milk.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tart pan and refrigerate for 5 minutes.
- Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the top of the cake with the beaten egg (you won't use the entire beaten egg, just enough to generously brush over the top of the cake).
- Using the tines of a fork, draw a crisscross pattern over the surface of the cake for decoration.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the cake is a medium golden brown. Transfer to a rack for about 15 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan. Allow to come to room temperature on the cooling rack. Move to a cake plate. If not serving right away, cover with a cake dome or foil and keep at room temperature.
Notes
The original recipe calls for unsalted European butter. I used salted American butter.
The original recipe calls for superfine sugar. I used regular granulated sugar.
The original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons dark rum, but I don't prefer liquor in baked goods, so I used the almond extract and an extra teaspoon of vanilla. Soooooo good.
Be gentle with the batter so it won't be tough.
You can make this with a hand held mixer if you need to, but so much easier with a standmixer.
Apply a bit of pressure when making the fork pattern and make sure the lines are straight. It really makes a pretty pattern on the top of the cake. Mine were not so straight!
This cake is delicious the first day when cooled, and even better the second day.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 161Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 112mgSodium: 97mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 7g
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 Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes by Aleksandra Crapanzano. 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 links 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.
It is a new year and a new book - Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes - and our choices for May 2023 were ~
Lavender Lemon Weekend Cake
Breton Butter Almond Cake
Revani Cake
- no group member baked this cake at this time
You had me at shortbread. I also think your pattern on top looks great!
Thanks Karen. It's soooo good!
This post has convinced me to make this cake. Shortbread is my favorite.
Then you'll like this one, Wendy. My husband was 'where's the frooooosssssttttinnnngg?' But this one definitely doesn't need it.