I was only introduced to Almond Cake as an adult, but it became my favorite from first bite. I've finally perfected my recipe for this soft, tender, flavorful cake!
My almond cake recipe is a simple white cake that I enriched with just a little egg yolk. It bursts with almond flavor from almond extract. Butter provides additional flavor, while vegetable oil keeps the cake moist and springy, even after being stored in the refrigerator.
Almond cake is sometimes marketed as "wedding cake" by both bakeries and ice cream brands. In addition to being my favorite birthday cake flavor, my daughter also requests it for her birthday! I top it with an almond-flavored Ermine Frosting instead of American or Swiss buttercreams.
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Ingredients
I adapted this cake from the Silverlight Cake recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook (affiliate link). As a from-scratch cake, it takes your usual cake ingredients:
I use all-purpose flour and granulated sugar, as I would for most cakes. I've never tried this recipe with almond flour; our birthdays are too important to experiment with.
Butter provides flavor to the cake that an all-oil cake can't provide. Plus, creaming together butter with sugar creates air pockets that help your cake rise and give it a fine crumb.
Vegetable oil adds moisture, and importantly, keeps your cake from becoming hard in the refrigerator.
I use 1% or 2% dairy milk because that's what I have at home; milk provides moisture and a little tenderness.
Baking powder, in conjunction with the egg whites, make the cake rise. Don't substitute baking soda, as it won't interact the same way.
Almond extract is strong and delicious; there's no substitute for it. Vanilla extract helps round out the flavor.
The egg yolk in the whole egg provides richness and flavor to the cake, while the egg whites make the cake fluffy, tender, and springy. (Use the leftover egg yolks to make ice cream, or my Key Lime Pie.)
Instructions
Before you begin making the cake, soften your butter. Butter should be at room temperature for it to cream properly.
Also, decide what cake pans you will use, and prepare them. (I've got more info on cake pans in the next section.) Grease and flour round pans for layer cakes that you'll turn out of a pan; only grease a 9x13-inch pan (affiliate link) (or any other pan) that you will serve the cake from directly. Line your cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until creamy. Do this on high speed with a hand mixer (affiliate link), or medium speed with a stand mixer. The butter and sugar above was too cold, and isn't quite creamed properly; the cake still turned out, though.
- If you haven't already, separate your egg whites while you're creaming the butter. Always use a 3 bowl setup like in the example above; that way, if one of the yolks breaks into the egg white, the entire batch isn't contaminated. That broken yolk with the egg white can be used as your whole egg.
- Add the flour, oil, milk, baking powder, salt, and extracts, and beat for another 2 minutes.
- Add the egg whites and whole egg. Beat for another 2 minutes.
- Divide the batter evenly among your baking pans. Only fill cupcake cups ½ full.
- Bake until the tops are turning golden, and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. The cupcake pan on top has steep sides and was filled more than halfway, so the batter spilled over.
Remove cupcakes from the pan immediately. For layer cakes, cool for an hour before turning the cake out onto a cooling rack.
Cool all cakes completely before frosting.
Top Tip
When baking, always check for doneness at the minimum baking time. If your oven runs hot, you're using a new pan, or you're new to baking, check your cake a few minutes before the minimum baking time.
What Baking Pans Should I Use?
Choose your cake pans based on you want to serve the cake.
8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans are perfect for making a layer cake. You can use a 9x13-inch pan (affiliate link) to make the cake that you will serve from the pan; grease, but do not flour, a pan that you're serving cake from. If using a cupcake pan, I recommend using liners to make removing and serving the cupcakes extra easy.
For tips on preparing pans for layer cakes, check out my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake recipe.
Shiny pans will give you a better cake than dark pans will. Dark pans will bake more quickly and may overbake the edges.
The top pan has steeper sides than the bottom pan, and I filled some of the cups ⅔ full instead of ½ full. You can see that some of the batter overflowed and became an ugly muffin top. Muffin tops separated from the cupcake when I tried to frost them - meaning I had to eat them instead of serve them to friends.
I baked this darker pan at the same time as the shiny pans, and filled the cups ½ full. They had the same batter, fill level, and baking times, but the dark pan made the edges brown. These cupcakes were still tasty, but not quite as good.
Other Equipment
I highly recommend using either a KitchenAid stand mixer (affiliate link) or a hand mixer (affiliate link) to beat the batter for this cake. Mixing the batter by hand will be onerous and time consuming.
Although some people can separate eggs using the shells, I strongly recommending an egg separator (affiliate link) for ease.
Storage
The cake itself is shelf-stable, and can be covered and stored at room temperature. However, you should store the cake in the refrigerator if the frosting needs to be refrigerated. The oil in the cake will help keep the refrigerated cake tender and soft.
Almond cake is best within the first few days, but we've enjoyed it for up to a week later, when stored properly.
Recipe FAQ
Cakes like this cake will be done when the top begins to turn golden. The cake will spring back if pressed with a finger. My favorite test is the toothpick test: a toothpick inserted into the middle will come out clean. Cupcakes usually aren't as golden as cake layers.
A cake that is sloshy or jiggles in the middle when you move the pan is not done. Don't bother with the toothpick test; just set your timer for another 3 minutes, and check again.
This cake is a great option to be made without dairy. The recipe originally called for vegetable shortening, and you can substitute it for both the butter and oil; in that case, cream the shortening with sugar as if it were butter. I've had success substituting soy milk for dairy milk in baking, although I have not used it in this recipe.
The texture of the cake suffers when I have tried to substitute oil in place of the butter in this cake. If made with all oil, this cake will be more dense and springy. It will still taste fine, but will not be as rich.
In addition to the whole egg, this cake takes 3 egg whites. That leaves you 3 egg yolks leftover, which is the perfect amount to make my Key Lime Pie! You can also make pudding or ice cream with the leftover egg yolks.
If you can't use the egg yolks immediately, sprinkle them with sugar, put them in a freezer bag, and squeeze out all the air before placing them in the freezer. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator, over a plate or bowl since sometimes the bags develop holes. Frozen egg yolks sometimes have texture changes, so they won't be ideal for something like Key Lime Pie; however, they'll still thicken ice cream batter. When using frozen yolks, I highly recommend using a mesh strainer to prevent rogue clumps of egg from getting into your ice cream.
More Delicious Cakes
Want even more cake? Try these recipes:
Interested in other recipes? I save and share recipes I like or want to try on my Pinterest page - follow me there! You can also check out my Facebook page for more recipes and helpful tips. I'm also happy to try to help troubleshoot my recipes there.
Have you tried this recipe? Or have a question about it? Rate it or leave a comment below! (PS: rating my recipes helps other people find them, too!)
📖 Recipe
Almond Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar (333 grams)
- 5 tablespoons butter (70 grams, softened)
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (280 grams)
- 5 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil (80 grams)
- 1 ¼ cups milk (300 grams)
- 3 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 egg whites
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Choose whether you will make three 8-inch round cakes, two 9-inch round cakes, one 9x13-inch cake, or 24 cupcakes.
- Grease and flour bottom and sides the round cake pans (and any pan you will turn the cake out of). If using a 9x13-inch pan (affiliate link) and will be serving the cake from the pan, only grease the pan. If making cupcakes, place liners in the cupcake pans, rather than grease and flour the cups.
- Cream butter and sugar together with a stand mixer (on medium speed) or with a hand mixer (affiliate link) (on high speed) for about 2 minutes, until creamy. (If your kitchen is cold, the mixture may just be sandy. This is okay though.)
- Add flour, oil, milk, baking powder, salt, and extracts. Beat for another 2 minutes, scraping down the sides partway through.
- Add egg whites and whole egg. Beat for another 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again to be sure everything is mixed.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s). If making cupcakes, fill the cups no more than ½ full, or the batter will spill over.
- Bake at 350F. Bake the 8-inch rounds for 23-28 minutes; 9-inch rounds for 30-35 minutes; 9x13-inch cake for 40-45 minutes; or cupcakes for 20-25 minutes. The cake will be golden brown along the top. A toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake will come out clean, not doughy or wet.
- Remove cupcakes from the pan immediately. For layer cakes, let cool 10 minutes before turning the cakes out of the pans onto a cooling rack.
- Let cool completely, at least an hour, before frosting.
- Cake can be stored, covered, at room temperature if the frosting is shelf-stable. The cake stays soft even when stored in the refrigerator. Cake is best within 3 days, but is still delicious for a few days after that.
Leona Konkel says
I've tried other almond cake recipes, but this is my favorite almond cake ever, because it stays so soft in the refrigerator. I hope you love it too. Leave me a rating or a comment. I'd love to hear how it turns out for you, and troubleshoot if you need it!