A high altitude mini almond poppy seed cake with vintage buttercream piping, in a small size that’s just enough for four people.
You might also love these high altitude mini cakes in flavors like strawberry cake, lemon coconut, and cinnamon sugar.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Small Size. High altitude bakers love my mini cake recipes, and this mini almond poppy seed cake is the perfect petite dessert for people who love almond cake. When you want to make dessert, but you don’t need too much leftover, a mini cake is a great option for any occasion, birthday or anniversary. This little cake yields four slices, so it’s just enough for a few people to share. I baked my mini almond cake in two 4-inch cake pans, but you can also divide the batter between two 6-inch pans for thinner layers.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Cake Flour. I recommend using cake flour for today’s recipe, rather than all purpose flour, for a softer, fluffier cake crumb.
- Poppy Seeds. A scattering of poppy seeds in both the cake and the buttercream adds a pretty speckled appearance and nutty flavor to complement the almond.
- Almond Extract. Since there are no almonds in this cake, the almond flavor comes only from almond extract in the cake and buttercream.
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray the insides of two 4-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray.You can also use two 6-inch round cake pans, but the cake layers will be very thin. If using 6 inch pans, your cakes will need 5-10 minutes less to bake.
- In a bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds.
- Separately, whisk together the melted butter, oil, milk, egg, vanilla and almond extracts.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk until combined. Divide the batter between the pans.
- Bake the cakes for about 20-22 minutes, until the centers of the cakes spring back when lightly touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set the pans on a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the sides of the cakes, then turn them out of the pans. Let cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- Using an electric mixer (either stand or hand-held), beat the butter for one minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, beat in the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt, vanilla and almond extracts, mixing until combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 4-5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- If needed, slice a small portion of the domed top off the cakes before frosting.
- Stack and frost the cakes with the buttercream, then chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Fit a disposable piping bag with tip 1M and fill with buttercream. Add some decorative vintage piping on the cake, if desired, and decorate with bows.
How to Decorate Cakes with Fabric Ribbon Bows
Decorating cakes with ribbons and bows is such a pretty cake decorating technique that’s currently trending. It’s easy to do, and and you can add bows onto cakes that simply covered in a smooth coat of buttercream, or on cakes with more elaborate piping.
- First, choose your ribbon and tie your bows. Trim the ends of the ribbon so they hang at the desired length.
- Cut some wire, or in a pinch, unbend some paper clips. I used plastic coated paper clips for mine. Bend the wire or paper clips into a U-shape, then slide one end under the loop on the back of the bow so that the wire hooks around the loop.
- Place the bows onto the cake, with the wire sticking into the cake to secure it.
- Before cutting and serving the cake, remove the bows and wires.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days.
If you only have 6 inch pans, you can use those, but your cake layers will be thinner, and will need to bake for a shorter amount of time.
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High Altitude Mini Almond Poppy Seed Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 4-inch Round Cake Pans (x2) (or two 6-inch round cake pans)
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
Cake
- ¾ cup cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 6 tbsp granulated sugar
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp poppy seeds
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 5 tbsp whole milk
- 1 large egg
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
Buttercream
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp meringue powder, optional
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- ¼ tsp poppy seeds
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray the insides of two 4-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray.You can also use two 6-inch round cake pans, but the cake layers will be very thin. If using 6 inch pans, your cakes will need 5-10 minutes less to bake.
- In a bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds.
- Separately, whisk together the melted butter, oil, milk, egg, vanilla and almond extracts.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk until combined. Divide the batter between the pans.
- Bake the cakes for about 20-22 minutes, until the centers of the cakes spring back when lightly touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set the pans on a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the sides of the cakes, then turn them out of the pans. Let cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- Using an electric mixer (either stand or hand-held), beat the butter for one minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, beat in the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt, vanilla and almond extracts, mixing until combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 4-5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- If needed, slice a small portion of the domed top off the cakes before frosting.
- Stack and frost the cakes with the buttercream, then chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Fit a disposable piping bag with tip 1M and fill with buttercream. Add some decorative vintage piping on the cake, if desired, and decorate with bows.
Notes
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/
I liked this recipe, it worked well in my city, i am way higher than you 9.333 feet, i made some adjustments, a little less sugar and oil, though. It was perfect, thank you