Posted on Tuesday, 8th March 2011 by Grace Massa Langlois
Whenever I make coffee cake or tea cake I usually bake an extra one to tuck away in the freezer for times when life gets too hectic and there isn’t time to get in the kitchen. Plus it’s also nice to have on hand in case I need to give a little homemade goodness to family and friends. Yesterday afternoon I took this practice to the extreme because I made not two, not three, but four Blueberry Almond Cakes.
I couldn’t help myself! The cake is so flavourful; almonds and blueberries go so well together. The cake’s also extremely moist and bursting with blueberries.
These are the types of cakes I grew up with. Cakes with frosting were a rarity in our home, saved generally for birthdays or special occasions. And usually those cakes were store-bought or made from a box mix. And the frosting well it was store-bought too.
Maybe that’s why I’m so found of the pairing of fruit and nuts. I especially enjoy the pairing with chocolate.
I wish I had employed a handy tip I picked up years ago reserving a tablespoon or two of flour and tossing the berries in the flour before folding them in. I may have been rewarded with an Almond Cake dotted throughout with dark blue gems. Unfortunately I didn’t remember the tip with the first cake, nor the second and not even the third. And the fourth you ask-absolutely not! I take comfort in the fact that a few blueberries had a mind of their own and they made there may to the centre of the cake and I was very lucky that a few stayed close to the top.
Bottom-heavy berries aside, this is a cake I will turn to time and time again. That’s because everyone enjoyed it immensely (especially served warm with lemon crème fraiche and fresh blueberries) and also because the cake is incredibly versatile. Next time I have a craving for a fruit and nut cake - Almond and Apple Cake or Raspberry-Almond Cake? The possibilities are endless.
Here’s some ideas that came to mind you could try with this recipe:
- You could switch out the almond meal for any nut meal.
- You could opt out of adding blueberries altogether or you could use another berry in its place.
- The cake could be glazed (mmm!)
- You could also add any flavour profile you choose. For example, how about a Raspberry Pecan Cake with Grand Marnier and a Lemon Glaze? Doesn’t that sound amazing?
Penny (Jeroxie) shared a similar Almond Cake the other day. In her cake she paired the almonds with coconut. Her cake is also gluten free and most importantly it looks scrumptious. I can’t wait to try it. Thank you, Penny!
My Mom may have never made frosted cakes, cupcakes or brownies but she did make quite a few Almond Cakes while I was growing up and they were always out of this world delicious! I was reminded of that when I was baking this Blueberry Almond Cake because it filled my home with that familiar, comforting aroma. I hope some day my children will have these same aromas wash over them with the same feelings of comfort as I do.
Blueberry Almond Cake {Torta alle Mandorle con Mirtilli}
1 – 20 cm X 9 cm (8-inch X 3½-inch) cake
Serves 8
- 150 g (1 cup + 3 tablespoons) self-rising cake and pastry flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 150 g (2/3 cup) unsalted butter
- 4 large eggs
- 225 g (1 cup) caster (superfine granules) sugar
- ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 150 g (1 cup) almonds, toasted and finely ground
- 280 g (2 cups) blueberries, fresh or frozen
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
- Fresh blueberries, extra, for garnish
- Preheat oven to 180° C (350° F). Line bottom and sides of a 20 cm X 9 cm (8-inch X 3½-inch) springform baking tin with non-stick baking paper and very lightly grease paper. In a small bowl whisk together flour (reserving 2 tablespoons to toss blueberries in) and salt, set-aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat, occasionally swirling pan over burner, until it begins to brown (the butter will have a nutty flavour), about 5 minutes and set-aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment beat together eggs, sugar and almond extract (and vanilla if using) at medium speed until thick, pale and tripled in volume, about 10 minutes. Remove bowl from mixer.
- Using a fine mesh sieve sift one-half flour mixture over egg mixture; gently fold in using a large flexible spatula and then sift and gently fold in remaining flour until just combined.
- Fold in butter and ground almonds.
- Toss three-quarters of the blueberries in reserved flour (to help prevent blueberries from sinking to the bottom). Add to flour coated berries to the cake batter and fold in to just combine.
- Transfer batter to prepared baking tin. Top with reserved blueberries.
- Bake, rotating tin halfway through baking, until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.
- Transfer to wire rack and allow cooling in tin, 10 minutes. If not serving immediately, remove from tin and return cake to wire rack to cool completely. If serving immediately, transfer cake-to-cake plate or cake stand.
- Serve warm, dusted with confectioners’ sugar and garnished with fresh blueberries.
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Tags: after school treat, afternoon tea, almonds, blueberries, cake, cakes, coffee cake, dessert, desserts, food, food photography, food photos, Italian Cake, Italian Cakes, Italian dessert, Italian desserts, pound cakes, quick and easy, tea cake
Posted in Baking & Pastry, Baking Mise en Place, Eggs, Pastry Doughs & Batter, Recipes
Comments (28)
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March 8th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Another stunning creation! Beautiful pictures as well.
I also wanted to let you know that I passed on the ‘Stylish Blogger Award’ to you.
March 8th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
What a beautiful cake. Delicious too!
March 8th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
This looks wonderful. I Love both blueberries and almonds. Never thought to put them together….genius. You photos are amazing as well. Off to the store now to get these necessary items to make this stuff. Thank you
March 8th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
As soon as I saw blueberries I had to come LOL It looks so beautiful and yummy
March 8th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
This cake sounds delicious, I love the almond & blueberry combination! Such pretty photos to accompany a great recipe!
March 8th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
This looks fantastic. But four of them? That is a marathon coffee cake day!
March 8th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Hey Carolyn I have 6 brothers and sisters and the recipe was so easy I just kept going.
March 8th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Thank you so much Lyndsey – I am so honoured!
March 8th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
This looks wonderful – perfect with a big cup of tea.
March 8th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Sort of off-topic, but I LOVE that egg crate…
March 8th, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Can’t tell whether the cake or the beautiful pictures look better.
March 8th, 2011 at 8:13 pm
That looks wonderful.
March 8th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
Wow, 4 cakes! I love almond cakes, they are always so moist, and of course adding berries just makes it that much better. I like your idea of glazing it, maybe with a lemon glaze? That might be nice with the almonds and blueberries.
March 8th, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Sylvie I think the lemon glaze would have been perfect in these cakes and also some zest in the cake but unfortunately too late now, but next time for sure.
March 8th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Thank you
March 8th, 2011 at 10:12 pm
Thanks, my lucky find at one of my favourite stores, Anthropologie. I would be in so much trouble if we had one here in our city.
March 8th, 2011 at 11:29 pm
The cake is lovely .. i also adore your tableware … all your pictures are so well thought out and pretty!
March 11th, 2011 at 4:52 am
This is the most perfect thing ever!
March 15th, 2011 at 11:36 am
Wow..it must have been one busy kitchen baking all those cakes at once! I just bought a whole bunch of blueberries on sale the other day so having this recipe is perfect timing. A good one to try! Thanks:)
April 7th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Don’t you love Donna Hay?? Every magazine is pure heaven. Beautiful cake. I can’t wait to try it!
April 7th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
She’s the best!
May 12th, 2011 at 11:39 pm
[...] Blueberry Coffee Cake, Almond Cake Recipes, Recipe for Almond Cake … Mar 8, 2011 … A quick and easy Almond Cake Recipe with Blueberries. [...]
June 13th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Where do you get self – rising flour? I can’t seem to find it anywhere!
Fantastic recipe, it looks amazing. I think I will try it out with a light glaze…great idea!
June 13th, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Julia you should be able to find it in your grocery store baking aisle. I know it is available online, but maybe you could check some of the speciality markets in your area, they tend to carry speciality ingredients. I know I never noticed in the grocery aisle until I spotted it in a recipe and went on the hunt for it.
October 7th, 2011 at 9:19 am
Thanks for the mention. This blueberry cake sounds and look amazing. I can’t wait till blueberry season kicks in.
February 26th, 2012 at 12:44 am
[...] originally found this recipe through my favorite website FoodGawker and made it for a dinner dessert a few weeks back. I had [...]
March 22nd, 2012 at 6:06 am
This cake looks super delicious, light and fluffy – your blog is fast becoming a favourite!
Cheers
Choc Chip
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