Recipe Swap: Almond Mocha Cake

If you have a sweet tooth, you'll love today's recipe swap theme which is dessert!  This recipe comes from Nicole of Cookies on Friday and I submitted the super addicting Macadamia Lemon Bars.

When I read the ingredients list, I was concerned by the use of amaretto, an almond liquor.  Now, I know that it's not much and alcohol supposedly "cooks off" but in my experience, you can usually still taste it pretty prominently in baked goods and so I wasn't convinced that it would be the best thing for my baby.  Thankfully, Nicole confirmed it would be okay to substitute almond extract and so that's what I did.

This cake is EXTREMELY tender.  The crumb is very delicate and I found that it fell apart as I tried to enjoy its deliciousness.  The prominent flavor is the chocolate, which is enhanced by the coffee and studded with almond flavoring and pieces.  My husband was completely delighted to see it sitting on our kitchen counter after he came home from the gym.  He approved :).

Thanks to Sarah at Taste of Home Cooking for running the swap and make sure you check out the rest of the recipes in the link hop below!

Two Years Ago: Handheld Breakfast Two Ways (French Toast Cups with Sausage and Apples; Savory Breakfast Muffins)
Three Years Ago: Stuffed Shells and Grasshopper Cookie Bars (an easy St. Patrick's day treat!)

Almond Mocha Cake

Ingredients

• ½ cup sliced almonds 
• 1-1/4 cups strong coffee 
• ½ cup butter 
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 
• 1 cup sugar 
• ¼ cup amaretto (I used 1 Tablespoon almond extract)
• 2 cups flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 2 eggs 
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 12 cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle the almonds into the pan and gently press to the bottom of the pan. 
2. Warm your coffee in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the butter and chocolate chips and stir until mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a large mixer bowl. Add the sugar and amaretto, stir to combine. Allow mixture to cool 5 minutes. 
3. With the mixer at low speed, gradually blend in the flour and baking soda into the chocolate mixture. Add vanilla and eggs and mix on medium speed about 30 minutes, or until well blended. Carefully pour into prepared pan. Be careful not to disturb the nuts too much by pouring quickly. 
4. Bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
5. Cool in the pan about 25 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. 
6. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Source: Recipe from Debbie Russell, 33rd Pillsbury BakeOff, Pillsbury Best of the BakeOff Cookbook as seen on Cookies on Friday

Recipe Swap: Cranberry White Chocolate Almond Cookies

I brought these cookies to my family Thanksgiving and all but 3 lonely cookies were devoured despite having some fierce competition from pumpkin pie, oreo ice cream cake, thumbprint cookies, pumpkin rolls, and more.  I had not one person, but three different aunts/uncles that asked me for the recipe.  And now, I'm sharing them with you :).  These cookies burst with goodies...in fact, I might actually decrease the amount of chips in the future out of personal preference for a higher cookie to stuff ratio but left the directions as is for now.

Thanks again for A Taste of Home Cooking for hosting the swap (this edition was Thanksgiving Desserts)!  I'm not sure yet who got my post and I gave them two options so I'll come back and update this post later once I know.  I didn't tell you but I'm secretly floating somewhere in the Caribbean Sea as you're reading this right now.  Ahhh, sand between my toes and sun on my face :D.

Cranberry White Chocolate Almond Cookies

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 whole large Eggs
• 1 tablespoon Vanilla
• 1 cup dried Cranberries
• 1 cup White Chocolate Chips
• 3/4 cup chopped Almonds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. Beat butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Beat in eggs, one at a time. Then add vanilla and mix.  Add dry ingredients until just blended.  Add cranberries, chocolate and almonds and incorporate into dough.
3. Drop by the heaping Tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet leaving 1 - 1.5 inches between each drop.
4. Bake at 350F degrees for about 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Source: As swapped by Jenna's Cooking Journey and slightly modified from Through the Bugs on my Windshield

Blueberry Almond Cake with Lemon Drizzle

This cake is the epitome of summer.  Blueberries, lemon, and almonds?  Oh and let's not forget to mention that this cake even has a hidden layer of cheesecake goodness inside and not called out in the name.  It's like a secret weapon.  But with all these deliciously fresh flavors, what more can you really ask for?

I made this cake to bring up to my husband's mini-family reunion earlier this month.  It was well received but in my personal opinon a bit too lemony.  I guess that's what you get when you just squeeze in a whole big juicy lemon without regard for the size and how much juice is contained versus actually measuring it.  Whoops!  Note to self, not all lemons are created equal and baking really is a science, not an art.

Speaking of lemons, for whatever reason, my lemond just DID NOT want to zest.  Maybe it's the fact that I don't own a microplane (sad face!) so I use the fine side of my grater.  It probably also doesn't help that said grater is also beginning to break.  Yeah, time to invest in that microplane.

I also kind of read the instructions wrong and accidentally mixed the blueberries into the cream cheese mixture instead of scattering them on top.  Thankfully I had just a few extra berries to scatter on top after I realized my mistake.  Same taste but I think it caused me to need to bake it longer before the cheesecake part set and didn't quite look as pretty as it really should have.  (Check out Beantown Baker's post on this recipe...hers looks so great!)

I think I'll leave this post relatively simple and sweet.  The picture kind of speaks for itself.  Delicious.

One Year Ago: Here's a few of them since I've sucked so bad at blogging lately!  Then again, as I look at the history August must be historically bad for me since there actually is only ONE recipe posted last August, too!  Honey Lime Grilled Chicken, Chicken Lo Mein, and Grands! Taco Melts (AKA Homemade Hot Pockets)

Blueberry Almond Cake with Lemon Drizzle
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Yields: 1 9-inch cake with 12 Servings

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• A pinch of nutmeg, freshly ground
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Topping

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp flour
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Glaze

• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9-inch round cake or spring form pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add 1 cup brown sugar and beat for approximately one minute until light and well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for approximately two minutes after each addition. Alternately, add one-half of the flour mixture and one-half of the yogurt, beating briefly on low after each addition. Repeat. Stir in the lemon juice and almond extract. Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon flour, 1 egg, and the lemon zest for approximately two minutes until very smooth and creamy. Spoon this cheese mixture over the cake batter and spread, leaving a one-inch margin of cake batter exposed around the perimeter of the cake. Sprinkle the blueberries over the cream cheese mixture and the sliced almonds around the perimeter of the cake.
5. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake to room temperature and serve.
6. For the glaze, whisk together the lemon juice with the powdered sugar and drizzle the mixture over the top of the cake.

Source: Originally from Modern Comfort Food as adapted by and seen on Beantown Baker