High Altitude Italian Almond Cake
A high altitude recipe for a moist, dense, one layer almond cake made with nutty almond flour and a subtle hint of lemon, topped with crunchy 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.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp almond extract
- ⅔ cup whole milk, room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup almond flour (or very finely chopped almonds)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray an 8 or 9 inch springform pan or round cake pan with non-stick baking spray. If using an 8-inch pan, be sure it has at least a 3-inch depth.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter until nutty, golden brown milk solids form at the bottom of the pan. This process might take about 10 minutes. First the butter will hiss and splatter as the water evaporates, then as it quiets down, a layer of foam will form on top of the butter. This means the butter is done. Immediately remove from the heat, and scrape the butter, including the brown milk solids, into a large bowl. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the cooled brown butter with the granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, milk, sour cream and lemon zest, until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, whisking just until moistened.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle with the sliced almonds, gently pressing them into the batter. Bake for about 55-60 minutes for an 8 inch pan, or about 40-50 minutes for a 9 inch pan, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean or with moist crumbs clinging to it.
- Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes before removing the cake from the pan. Let cool for another 30 minutes, then serve warm, or at room temperature.
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