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How about a nice piece of this almond coffee cake with your afternoon coffee?
Almond Coffee Cake Has Rich Flavor
This is a coffee cake that’s a bit unusual as coffee cakes go. Traditional ones are based on streusel with a cinnamon flavor and I do love me some of the traditional since I’m pretty traditional myself.
However, sometimes it becomes necessary to start thinking outside the box and change up things a bit. I started out to make a more classic one, but discovered my walnuts had gone over since I forgot to put the bag in the freezer.
I did have sliced almonds in the freezer so a quick change was in order. And this has amazing flavor if you’re into almonds.
Sour Cream Is Necessary
Sour cream gives this cake its lovely texture. I had loads of the stuff in the fridge because I took advantage of a recent sale–where I always overbuy.
It also imparts a slight tanginess to the cake itself. I can’t praise sour cream enough for its ability to do this.
Now, I haven’t tried these types of cakes with light sour cream. You probably can use it but the crumb won’t be as tender. And as a rule, you never substitute fat-free products in anything baked because the results are pretty dismal.
If you have plain Greek yogurt on hand, that should work equally as well.
Almond Flavor
The deep almond flavor comes from two sources.
The first, of course, is the almonds themselves. You need to use toasted almonds and they’re pretty simple to make. I do mine in the oven, but stovetop works pretty well too. Just have to keep stirring and keep a watchful eye on them.
The second is the almond extract. I only use pure almond extract and a high-quality one. The real deal is always better, however it costs more. If you’re very budget conscious, then the imitation is OK. In fact, that is the only imitation flavoring that’s pretty close to the real thing.
The Recipe
Almond Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups sour cream
- 1 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
Filling/Topping:
- 1 cup sliced almonds toasted
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbs butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Spray a 9-inch/23 cm pan with non-stick spray.
- Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder; set aside.
- Cream sugar, butter and eggs in a large bowl until smooth. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in the sour cream, almond and vanilla extracts.
- Mix the almonds, sugar and melted butter in a small bowl.
- Spread half the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the filling mixture over the batter. Lastly, spread the remaining half of the batter on top. Sprinkle remaining filling mixture over the top of the cake.
- Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.
Angelina says
I’m wondering if adding in 1/4 or 1/2 tsp. of salt would be ok. That’s what my mom always does to most homemade baked goods.
Judith Hanneman says
I don’t think it’d hurt it but I’d go with the least amount, especially if you’re using salted butter. I didn’t add it here because I used regular salted butter–where I usually eliminate salt even if it’s called for in a recipe.