Almond Cream Cake

In another life, I would be a beachy, hang out by the ocean while sipping a fruity umbrella drinks kind of girl.  I'd enjoy things like building sand castles,  jumping ocean waves and spending hours staring out into the deep blue sea.  Instead, I'm completely annoyed by the presence of sand anywhere on my body other than my feet.  I'm slightly freaked out by swimming in salt water and I really, really don't like to sit still for any length of time.  

A beach trip with me is really no Day At The Beach.  The first thing that I do when I get to the beach is methodically lay my towel on top of the sand.  I plop down my bag of supplies, kick off my flip flops and sit down on my towel with the intention to rest and enjoy the view.  Within 5 minutes, I'm too antsy to sit still any longer and I take off on a test of endurance walk along the beach.   After my epic beach walk, I usually grab some kind of ball or frisbee out of my bag and look around for some willing participants.   A long beach walk and a good game of soccer in the sand sounds like a perfect beach day for me.  This is the reality of beachy Amy.

Clearly, I need to work on my relaxation skills at the beach.  Pondering the vastness of the ocean and contemplating deep thoughtful questions from the comfort of my beach towel sounds like an ideal situation.  Unfortunately, the ability to find calmness and serenity from a seated position has never been my forte.  My peace and tranquility come from a more upright position with continual movement.  LOL.  

Even more relaxing than a day at the beach for me is a day spent in the kitchen baking up something elegant and sweet.  (Less chance of getting sunburned too.)  I had a friend who tagged me in a Facebook video for this Almond Cream Cake on a day when I desperately needed a little baking therapy.  I felt like it was a sign.  I needed stress relief on the same day that my sweet friend thought I needed a new cake recipe.  

Almond Cream Cake
1 cup butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup egg whites plus 3 tablespoons

​Frosting:
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
2 cups butter (softened)
2 cups granulated sugar

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Transfer to another bowl and refrigerate. 

Cream butter until pale with flat beater. 

Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. 

Combine flour, salt and baking soda. 

Combine milk and almond extract. 

Add dry ingredients to batter, alternating with milk.  

Fold in reserved egg whites. 

Divide between 2 greased 9" cake pans. 

Bake 27 minutes at 350. 

Process sugar for frosting in food processor for 1 minute. 

For frosting, whisk flour into milk in a saucepan.  Heat over low heat until thick like mashed potatoes. 

​Stir in almond extract. 

Set pan in ice water to cooled to room temperature. 

Cream together butter and processed sugar with whisk attachment. 

Add cooled flour mixture and whip until fluffy. 

Frost cooled cake. 

I turned my almond cream cake into a birthday cake with a layer of raspberry filling and a few fresh raspberries on top.

I also made this almond cream cake for a baby shower.  

I get a lot of requests for white cake and this is my new favorite white cake recipe.  It's super versatile and this frosting - killer.  This is one that you will want to try.

Ciao!