High Altitude Burnt Almond Cake
Three layers of soft almond flavored vanilla cake, frosted with fluffy almond buttercream, and covered in toasted sliced almonds.
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
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- 8-inch cake pans (x3)
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 ¼ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups whole or low fat buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 10 minutes
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp almond extract
Buttercream
- 1 ¼ cups sliced almonds
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp meringue powder, optional
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ tsp almond extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray.(If making half the recipe, use three 6-inch round cake pans.)
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, then whisk until evenly distributed.
- Add the eggs, egg whites, buttermilk, melted butter, oil, vanilla and almond extracts, and whisk until combined, about 10-15 seconds. A few lumps in the batter are okay; take care not to over mix. Divide the batter between the cake pans. Tap a few times against the counter to pop any large air bubbles.
- Bake the cakes for about 21-25 minutes, or until a cake tester or a toothpick comes out clean, and the tops spring back when lightly touched.
- Set the pans on a wire rack, cover them loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting. When ready to frost and assemble the cake, remove the cakes from the pans. If the cakes have a domed top, you can slice off a small portion of the dome with a sharp knife, for easier assembly.
Buttercream
- While the cake is cooling, you can toast the almonds. Preheat the oven to 300 F, and spread the sliced almonds in an even layer over a baking sheet. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, stirring once or twice throughout so they toast evenly, until golden brown. Set aside to cool completely.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for about 1 minute, until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar by spoonfuls, the meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined. Add the extracts. Increase the speed to medium and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down several times, until very light and fluffy. Turn the speed down to "stir" and mix for 1 more minute.
Assembly
- Stack and fill the cooled cake layers with the buttercream. Frost the cake all over with a thin "crumb coat" of buttercream, and chill for 20 minutes. Then frost all over with a final coat of buttercream. It doesn't have to look perfect, since it will be covered with almonds.
- Take handfuls of the cooled, toasted almonds, and press them against the sides and over the top of the cake. Gather up what falls off and continue to press them into the frosting, until the cake is covered with almonds.
Notes
Store the leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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