ITALIAN ALMOND ANISE CAKE WITH ANISE WHIPPED CREAM

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Recipe I Loved This Week:

I had the most random craving for almond cake!

I don’t even like almond flavored baked goods. I did recently buy a ton of almond meal so I had all the ingredients I needed to bake a simple almond cake. I decided to spice it up with an addition of anise extract. I have been in a black licorice mood lately, as some of you might have noticed. If you prefer to keep it in the almond family, sub the anise extract for almond. The combination of anise and almond is simply perfect. I am actually surprised I haven’t seen that pairing more frequently. Seriously give it a try!

This recipe is adapted from the Assorted Eats blog.

ITALIAN ALMOND ANISE CAKE

Yield:

x1 9-inch cake

Tools:

Mixing Bowl

Baking Spray

Cooling Rack

Offset Spatula

Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer or a Whisk (and some muscle)

9-inch round cake pan

Measuring cup

Ingredient List:

Dry Ingredients:

• 170 grams almond flour

• 85 grams all purpose flour (I use King Arthur All Purpose)

• 1 grams or 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 70 grams melted unsalted butter

• 50 grams neutral oil such as peanut oil

• 1 teaspoon Anise extract

Rest of Ingredients:

• 200 grams or 4 large eggs, room temperature

• 175 grams sugar

Anise Flavored Whipped Cream to serve:

• 120 grams whipped cream

• 7.5 grams or 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon anise extract

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F or 165 C.

   1. Mine baked somewhere between 330 F and 350 F turned out great, so don’t stress!

2. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with baking spray or grease with some butter. I also like to line the bottom of the pan with a circular piece of parchment paper.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together almond flour, all purpose flour, baking powder and salt, and set aside.

4. Add melted butter, oil, and anise extract to a measuring cup, and set aside.

5. In another large mixing bowl or a stand mixer, mix the eggs and sugar until the eggs have quadrupled in volume and have almost reached the ribbon stage, about 8 minutes on medium high speed.

   1. Ribbon stage is when the egg mixture fall off your whisk or beaters and the batter leaves an imprint on the top of the batter before disappearing into the batter.

6. Now slowly begin to add the butter, oil, anise extract while mixing the egg and sugar mixture on medium speed until everything is combined and properly emulsified, about two minutes.

   1. You don’t want to rush this step otherwise the mixture will curdle and separate. Resist the temptation to dump the butter, oil, extract mixture into the whipped eggs. Instead, gradually pour the liquid ingredients into the batter.

7. Now we can add the dry ingredients to the mixture. I like to do this in three additions. Using a spatula gingerly mix or incorporate the flour mixture in with the wet ingredients until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Yes, fold in the dry ingredients.

8. Pour the batter into the prepared 9-inch pan, put on the middle rack, and bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Using a knife check to make sure your cake is cooked through.

   1. The knife should come out clean without any wet batter.

9. Let the cake cool in the pan on a cooling rack for around 15 minutes. Remove from pan and serve immediately or to be honest it gets better once it has a chance to sit for at least 12 hours at room temperature.

   1. The cake keeps well in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

10. I served the cake with a couple dollops of anise flavored whipped cream and a light dusting of powdered sugar. You can also serve it with just a light dusting of powdered sugar.

Anise Whipped Cream:

1. Place a large mixing bowl in the freezer along with the whisk for at least 15 minutes, I usually set a 30 minute timer.

2. Once your equipment is chilled, pour the heavy cream into the bowl and add the powdered sugar. Start mixing or whisking over low speed if using a stand mixer. Increase the speed to medium high after about a minute and add the anise extract. Continue to mix until you have reached medium peaks or whatever your personal preference of whipped cream texture is. I like mine to be a little runny for a dessert like this.

   1. Remember the powdered sugar will help stabilize it since it has cornstarch.

   2. I would recommend doing it by hand since it’s a small batch and over-whipping is more of a concern.

3. Serve immediately or you can keep the whipped cream in the fridge for several hours.

(Yes, that is Alison Roman’s voice in the background of my video. I’m doing research for a project.)

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