All That's Left Are The Crumbs: Anna's Almond-Brown Butter Cake ~TheCakeSliceBakers

March 20, 2022

Anna's Almond-Brown Butter Cake ~TheCakeSliceBakers

Nutella-flavored whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and raspberries are the perfect accompaniment

to the nutty, caramelized flavor that comes from both the brown butter and almond flour.

This year the The Cake Slice Bakers are baking their way through Zoë Bakes Cakes by Zoē François. Zoë's book covers all sorts of cakes and with various levels of difficulty - everything from Bundt cakes and loaves to a beautifully layered wedding cake, with her expert knowledge guiding you through each step. And for those who have not heard of Zoē François she is an amazing baker and bestselling author, blogger, and has a series called Zoë Bakes on the Magnolia Network.

The Cake Slice Bakers are a group of dedicated bakers who all love cake. Each year we choose a new cake-centric cookbook and bake our way through it. Every month we are given 3 choices and on the 20th day of each month we reveal what we have chosen on our blogs. This month's choices were Banana Bread with Swirls of Nutella, Anna's Hazelnut-Brown Butter Cake, and Turtle Cake. At first I decided I would bake the Banana Bread, but when I saw that no one had chosen to bake Anna's Hazelnut-Brown Butter Cake I changed my mind. Turns out it was a very good decision.

As you can see from the choices above, this cake was originally made with hazelnut flour. Hazelnut flour can be hard to find here and when you can find it it is expensive. I decided not to stress myself out and use almond flour instead. The Perfect Whipped Cream does indeed whip up perfectly, and to make it even more perfect I added a couple of tablespoons of Nutella. This cake works great with a lot of different fruits, but we really like raspberries in my family, so raspberries it was. And some chocolate shavings were a great finishing touch. The cake itself has a kind of crispy exterior, and a softer inside - somewhat reminiscent of a macaron, but not quite as crispy. This cake is actually pretty easy to put together and there are just so many flavor combinations you use. I'm thinking next time that a cookie butter whipped cream would be a great addition.

Anna's Almond–Brown Butter Cake
Printer Friendly Recipe

Cake ~

250g (1¼ cups) superfine sugar, divided
60g (½ cup) all-purpose flour
60g (½ cup) almond flour
85g (6 tablespoons) brown butter, melted
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch kosher salt
4 eggs, at room temperature, separated,
½ cup Perfect Whipped Cream (recipe below)
Figs, peaches, berries, cherries, or any other fruit you desire for topping

Perfect Whipped Cream ~
480ml (2 cups) heavy whipping cream
1 to 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Brown Butter ~

450g (16 oz) unsalted butter

Preparation

Cake ~

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
Line an 20cm (8-inch) cake pan with a large piece of ungreased parchment paper, so it comes all the way up the sides; set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together 50g (¼ cup) of the sugar, both flours, the brown butter, honey, vanilla, salt, and egg yolks; set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy.
Turn the speed to medium-low and slowly sprinkle in the remaining 200g (1 cup) sugar to create a French meringue.
Turn the speed to high and beat until medium-stiff, glossy peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes more.
Stir about 240g (1 cup) of the meringue into the egg yolk–flour mixture to lighten.
Gently fold in another one-third of the meringue.
Repeat with two more additions, until the yolk mixture is light and smooth with no streaks of whites left in the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a small offset spatula.
Bake until the cake is light brown and has risen, about 20 minutes.
Turn the oven temperature to 175°C (350°F) and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes more.
Let the cake cool completely in the pan, then turn out onto a serving plate.
Remove the parchment paper.
Serve the cake dolloped with the whipped cream and topped with fresh fruit.

Perfect Whipped Cream ~

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the cream, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until just thick—it will start to leave marks from the whisk in the cream.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using the whisk attachment, continue whipping by hand for several seconds until the cream reaches the desired consistency; this way, you can ensure the mixer won’t take it too far (this recipe make 3 cups and whipped cream is best used right away).

Brown Butter ~

In a small over medium-low heat, melt the butter.
Turn the heat to medium-high and boil until the butter is frothy.
Turn the heat to low and cook gently, until the milk solids have settled to the bottom of the pan, are golden brown, and smell slightly toasted. (Once the milk solids start to caramelize, it goes quickly, so don't walk away).
Remove from the heat once the butter is butter is a deep amber color.
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, if desired.
Allow the butter to cool completely, then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Zoë Bakes Cakes by Zoē François. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.