Almond Chocolate Cake (beginner friendly)

When thinking about making a full cake with filling and glaze, we usually think of a difficult process involving multiple layers, complicated ingredients and pastry chef-like skills. But baking a cake should bring us joy, and the truth is that the process can be simplified significantly. Even a beginner baker can whip up this cake to impress loved ones. 

I made this cake during the lockdown for my mum's birthday, and I certainly found it doable with pantry ingredients. It is a quite forgiving recipe, and beginner friendly, so do give it a try!

click the image for the video-recipe

Hello! I know I haven't posted in such a long time! I hope you are all well. Here is Spain the situation has been quite tough, as you may know from the news. Luckily, I was able to come back with my parents to spend the lockdown together.

With my mum's birthday during the lockdown, and our grocery shopping trips limited significantly, I wanted to make a cake with the ingredients we already had in the pantry. And I think you can make it too, it becomes significantly easier to cook and bake if you don't have to run to the store for ingredients you may not ever use again!

Let's get to the ingredients and the making process!

Ingredients:

For the sponge cake

- 5 eggs

- 120 gr granulated sugar

- 160 gr all purpose flour

- 1 tsp baking powder (can be skipped if you don't have any left)

- 40 gr melted butter

For the filling

- 160 gr chocolate buttercream or frosting of your choice (can also be whipped cream)

- 40 gr roasted chopped almonds (I had whole almonds that I blanched to peel easily, gave a quick pan roast and chopped)

For the glaze

- 100 gr dark chocolate (can be bittersweet chocolate chips or a dark chocolate bar)

- 200 ml sweetened condensed milk

Procedure:

1. Start making the cake batter by beating 5 eggs (can be taken straight out of the fridge), you'll want to beat them over a pot of hot water at high speed, when the eggs start foaming, add the granulated sugar little by little. You'll know you're done when the eggs look almost white in color and very thick.

2. Sift in the flour, carefully mixing it in with a whisk, making sure there are no air pockets. 

3. Next, add in the baking powder (if you're using it), which will give the sponge cake an extra lift, but it's not necessary because the beaten eggs will already provide the required airiness.

4. Finally, fold in the melted butter, mix until everything is combined.

5. You can use the cake pan of your choise, it can be a round springoform pan as well, I used a banana bread mold. Line it with parchment paper and pour the batter in.

6. Bake the cake for 20-25 minutes at 170ºC.

7. For the filling I started out with some leftover vanilla buttercream I had, to which I added cocoa powder. You can even use store bought frosting or subsitute by any other frosting recipe, or even whipped cream.

8. Add in half of the chopped almonds, if you have any almond extract it's also a good idea to mix it in.

9. Once the cake is baked and cooled off, unmold it and cut it into two layers (I like to use toothpicks as a guide when using a knife to cut it).

10. Put a thick layer of the frosting mixture on the bottom cake layer and then cover with the top cake layer.

11. For the glaze, melt the chocolate and add in the condensed milk. It should be a pourable consistency. If you notice it feels too thick, you may heat it for a few seconds in the microwave.

12. Put the cake on a wire rack, and place the wire rack on a large plate. Pour the glaze over the cake, and top it off with the rest of the chopped almonds. I also topped it with some caramel sauce, just because I had it, but you can skip it. Let the excess glaze drip off and then let the cake set in the fridge until ready to serve.

I decided to use my banana bread mold instead of a round springform pan because I was going for a "chocolate candy bar" kind of theme. And it worked! Only thing I would have changed is to brush some caramel sauce on the sponge cake to make it even more moist.

My mum loved it for her birthday, and it went so well with tea! She loves almonds, but if you prefer another nut, or dried fruit, do try replacing it! The sponge cake recipe also has room for plenty of modifications, you can add sprinkles into the batter to make confetti cake, or even a chocolate flavored cake adding in some cocoa powder.

Do leave your comments below if you try it or have any questions! I'd love to hear from you.