italian dessert recipes

Almond Pound Cake

A quick make with almond paste




almond pound cake This almond pound cake is made with almond paste. Italian cakes and Italian bread recipes are more of our denser desserts. And that's what this almond paste does for you - gives you that nice moist dense cake.

If you have never used almond paste before - it's not scary. You can find it in the baking section of the grocery store - it's not dirt cheap, but you won't have to skip the utility bill either to buy it.

A big thing with this almond pound cake recipe (and I mention it in the procedure section) is, you gotta be friendly with your mixer. You gotta know your speeds. You gonna use two of them. The "fast" and the "just mix don't kill it" speed.

To get the almond paste blended is one speed, and then when you combine - be careful. This is where a lot of people quit thinking. When you combine all your ingredients you want to do just that - c-o-m-b-i-n-e. Not kill. Not - just get it over with. Just combine.

Why?

Because over-beating will get you a tough pound cake. We are going for a dense moist pound cake. And just paying attention to your mixer speeds will get you that professional bakery quality.

This almond pound cake is one of those easy cake recipes that's hard to go wrong with. And I just gave you the mixer-tip to put you on top of the other "amateurs" out there. You should score good with this one.

Bake on!

Lisa
Italian Dessert Recipes Website Owner and Developer

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Almond Pound Cake



YIELD: 1 Pound Cake

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 - 7 ounce box of almond paste, grated

* 1 cup white sugar

* 1 cup of butter

* 4 eggs

* 2 cups white flour

* 1 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 cup of milk

Procedure:

* Preheat oven to 325 degrees

* Spray or grease a a 9x5 loaf pan (or I use bundt pan, or my spring form with the "hole" in the middle)

* Get out your electric mixer - because you will need it to break apart the almond paste

* Place the almond paste, sugar and butter in a bowl. Break apart the almond paste with your hands.(If you don't you will burn out your beater motor trying to get it to blend!)

* Blend those ingredients together with your mixer. But look at it real good to make sure you have the paste blended in. (It can be stubborn!)

* Add your eggs ONE at a time, beating well after each egg.

* Beat on high until "fluffy"

* Sift together your baking powder and flour (yes, sifting is a v-e-r-y good thing, so try not to skip!)

* Add the sifted flour/powder alternately with the milk to your almond-egg-butter-sugar mixture.

* Here's where you DON'T want to beat it hard - crank the mixer down and blend the ingredients. (If you keep it on high - your cake will be tough)

* Bake for for 75 minutes or until you pass the toothpick test

* TIP: You never know what kind of oven a recipe author has - so set your timer to 5 minutes before the suggested finish time. That way you don't risk YOUR cake coming out dry!


Can I substitute the almond paste?


Nope. Not here. Not only are you looking for the dense texture of a pound cake - but the almond paste give a unique "grain" to the texture. "Subbing" it out won't get that. If you really want to use an almond flavoring, I'd suggest you try my almond cake recipe, it uses almond flavor. It's super easy. And if you can wait a day after cooking - it will settle into a denser type cake. But short answer - don't sub on this almond pound cake.

What are some other serving ideas ideas?

Italian cakes and Italian bread recipes carry a lot of similarities. These are denser, richer - and we don't doctor them up much. We let the bread or pound cake speak for itself. However, you notice my almond pound cake has raspberries pictured. That's because raspberries were on sale that morning. So here's a few things I noticed my grandma serving with pound cakes

  • fresh whipped cream (see whipped cream recipe, if you need a refresher)

  • cafe amaretto (served on the side)

  • smaller fruits - like berries

  • and if you're really crazy, like my dad - he poured his wine on the cake!



    • Back to the top of the almond pound cake .









    
    Lisa Gianotti

    Memorial Day and Warmer Weather Treats!



    It's finally warming up! In my neck of the woods we had SNOW on May 2nd. Now were on to the warm weather sweet treats!

    I started celebrating by having a Sangria last night. Sangria is so easy to make - and the trick to making it spectacular is - following the super easy procedure. IF you need a brush up see:

    How to Make Sangria

    As for Memorial Day Goodies - I bake the LESS sticky stuff if I have to travel. And something that the kids can grab with their fingers as they cruise by the dessert table and run off to their next game. Cookies and brownies work the best for this!

    The past month, these are my top five most viewed cookie recipes:

    #1 Anisette Cookies

    #2 Italian Wedding Cookie Recipe

    #3 Pizzelle Recipe

    #4 Ricotta Cheese Cookies

    #5 Meringue Cookie Recipe

    Have a fun filled Memorial Day!



    Lisa


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    Recipes on this site are from family cookbooks, family traditions, or intentional adaptations from traditional recipes to add an Italian flair. If a recipe was adapted or used from another cook - it is mentioned on the recipe page and the recipe author is given credit.