Almond Birthday Cake With Sherry Lemon Buttercream Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-inch by 2-inch-deep round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment or waxed paper. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, 1/4 cup sour cream, vanilla and lemon zest.
• In bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the cake flour, ground almonds, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat in butter and remaining 3/4 cup sour cream until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly beat in the egg mixture until fully combined.
• Scrape batter into prepared pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a cake layer comes out clean. Let cake layers cool in pans on wire racks for 15 minutes, then invert onto racks and peel off paper. Let cool completely on racks.
• While cakes cool, make frosting: In a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water (or use a double boiler), whisk egg whites, sugar and salt until sugar is completely melted (130 to 140 degrees on a candy thermometer), 3 to 4 minutes. Remove egg whites from heat; beat mixture with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until completely cooled and thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Beat in the butter, a little at a time, until frosting is smooth and fluffy. Beat in the sherry, lemon zest and cinnamon.
• To frost cake, place 1 layer on a cake plate, rounded side down, trimming if necessary so it lies flat. Spread with a third of the frosting, top with second layer and frost remainder of cake.

Steps:

• Combine the lemon zest and juice in a nonreactive saucepan with the sugar and eggs and beat well. Add the butter and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens into curd. Be sure to keep scraping the bottom of the pan during the few minutes this takes you; you don't want the eggs to scramble before the curd forms. If you're the nervous type, make the curd in a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water (the bowl shouldn't touch the water). The curd will take just a little longer to thicken, about 5 minutes. Strain the crud into a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface so a skin doesn't form. Refrigerate until cool, at least 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a springform pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter and dust it with 1 tablespoon of the flour.
• Cream the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a large bowl with 1 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy. Sift the remaining 1 cup flour, the baking powder, and salt together and stir into the creamed butter.
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until they start to foam. Do not overbeat, or the cake will be tough. Add the eggs and ground almonds to the flour and butter mixture, mixing well.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Drop 8 individual tablespoons of lemon curd evenly around the outside of the cake, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Try to place the curd so there's an even amount of cake batter between each dollop of curd. Drop 3 tablespoons curd in the center. Refrigerate any remaining curd for another use (hint: breakfast toast). Sprinkle the top of the cake with sliced almonds and 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar, according to taste.
• Bake until the cake is toasty brown on top and a toothpick or knife inserted into the cake comes out clean (be sure not to insert it near the curd), about 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan and let cool completely on a rack.
• If serving the cake with whipped cream, add the almond liqueur to the heavy cream and beat until the cream is stiff. Sift a thin, even layer of confectioners' sugar over the top of the cake. Present the cake at the table and offer the almond whipped cream on the side.

Steps:

• Mix the fruit, zest, juice and sherry, and leave overnight to soak. Next day, heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and double-line a deep, 20cm round cake tin. Wrap the outside with brown paper or newspaper and secure with string, as this will protect the sides from overcooking.
• Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla seeds together until pale and creamy. Mix the flour, ground almonds and mixed spice together, then tip into the butter mix with the eggs. Beat until combined and smooth. Stir in the whole almonds, fruit and any leftover juices, turn into the tin, then smooth the top and make a dip in the middle. Bake for 1½ hrs.
• Turn down the oven to 140C/fan 130C/ gas 2, then bake for 1½ hrs more until dark on the top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, or with a few damp crumbs clinging to it. Once cool enough to handle, turn onto a cooling rack and peel away the lining paper. Cool completely.
• Keep the cake well wrapped, then feed once a fortnight with 1-2 tbsp sherry. Poke holes into the cake with a skewer and slowly spoon over the sherry. If you don't have time to do this, this cake is delicious freshly made, and can be covered and decorated as soon as it has completely cooled down.

Steps:

• Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan.
• In large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, sherry, oil, pudding mix and nutmeg.
• Mix at low speed for 1 minute, scraping bowl as necessary.
• Mix at medium speed 3 minutes, again scraping bowl as necessary.
• (Or beat by hand about 5 minutes.).
• Pour half the batter into bundt pan.
• In a medium bowl mix first 4 streusel filling ingredients until crumbly.
• Sprinkle evenly over batter in bundt pan.
• Pour in remaining cake batter.
• Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.
• Cool on wire rack 15 minutes.
• Unmold from pan and cool completly on rack.
• To make the glaze, mix together the sugar, butter and sherry.
• Add hot water slowly until desired consistency.
• Brush completely cooled cake with sherry glaze and garnish with almond slices.

Steps:

• First, make the honey & almond sponges. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Grease two 15cm cake tins and line the bases with baking parchment. Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat the butter, muscovado sugar and 140g honey until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition until well incorporated. In a clean bowl, whisk together the flour, almonds, baking powder and 1 / 4 tsp salt. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Add the vanilla and milk, continuing to beat, then add the remaining flour mixture, beating until just combined. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins and bake for 45-55 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 mins in their tins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Leave the oven on for the candied almonds.
• To make a honey syrup, put 2 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp water in a small saucepan and heat for 1-2 mins or until the honey has dissolved. Set aside.
• Make the candied almonds by heating 150ml water and the sugar in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan with a sugar thermometer attached, and swirl until the sugar has dissolved. Meanwhile, spread the almonds out on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-12 mins until golden brown. Heat the sugar syrup to 119C, turn off the heat and stir in the warm almonds. Keep stirring until the syrup coats the nuts and turns white and crunchy. Tip the almonds back onto the baking sheet and roughly chop half of them.
• Next, make the Swiss meringue buttercream. Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Put the egg whites and sugar in a clean heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk using a clean electric hand mixer and heat the mixture until the sugar has dissolved (you can check this by feeling some of the egg white between your fingers to check that it isn't grainy). Remove the bowl from the heat and, using a stand or electric hand mixer, whisk for 10 mins or until the mixture forms stiff peaks and has cooled to room temperature. Add the butter, 1-2 tbsp at a time, and beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the honey and transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle.
• To assemble the cake, level the sponges by cutting off the domed tops and split each sponge in half to create four layers. Fix the bottom layer to a cake board or stand with a splodge of buttercream, brush with the honey syrup and pipe a layer of buttercream on top. Gently press the second layer on top and repeat with the remaining layers. Cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream, then use a palette knife to scrape the sides clean. Pipe a ring of buttercream blobs around the top, or spread a thick layer with a palette knife. Decorate with the candied almonds.