For this month’s International Food Challenge, Saraswathi challenged us with some Dutch delicacies. I wanted to do a bake that I can use for today’s bake-a-thon. Today happens to be the last day of the bake-a-thon and I am ending it on a sweet note. I was debating between a cookie and cake and when I asked U, he voted for the cake. I made Dutch butter cake. It was delicious and we finished it off in a day.

The cake is bit on a sweeter side and I liked it as I have a sweet tooth. U said it was very sweet for his taste but that did not stop him from eating it. I read that this cake tastes better the next day. I saved couple of slices for next day but I only got to taste a small piece. I did not notice any difference and since U tasted most of the slices the next day, he said it tasted the same even the next day but was softer.

I made ½ the recipe and the recipe listed below is half the original recipe. 20-25 minutes into baking, my kitchen was filled with the aroma of almond flavored cake. This recipe is a keep, if one doesn’t mind the calories 🙂 This cake would make a nice snack or even a dessert. This is also a nice cake to take on road trips and picnics.

Source: AllRecipes
Total Time: 39 – 45 minutes
Preparation: 10 – 15 minutes
Bake Time: 29 – 30 minutes
Yields: 8 slices, one 8” round cake

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• ½ cup ~ 1 stick Butter, softened (I left it on the counter for 1 hour & cut it into small cubes)
• ¾ cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ tbsp. Almond Extract
• 8 Almond Halves or Sliced Almonds (I used approximately 2 – 3 tbsp. blanched sliced almonds)

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Grease 8” round cake pan or 9” pie pan and keep aside.
• Take flour and baking powder in a bowl, mix and keep aside.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With my hand held mixer it took about 2-3 minutes. The softer the butter, sooner the sugar and butter mixture becomes creamy & fluffy.
• Reserve 1 – 1 ½ tsp. of beaten egg and add the rest to the butter mixture and mix.
• Add almond extract and mix.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low or fold setting and fold in the flour. I used an electric mixer to fold in the flour but a sturdy spoon can also be used. Cake batter will be stiff.
• Transfer batter to greased pan and press it evenly.
• Press almond halves or sprinkle sliced almonds on top of the cake batter. I used sliced almonds.
• Brush the top of the cake with beaten egg and bake in preheated oven for 28-30 minutes until the cake is golden brown. I baked for 29 minutes.
• Let the cake cool in the pan, slice the cake into wedges and serve.

This day in 2009 – Cranberry Pecan White Chocolate Cookies

Events: This goes to Bake Fest #38, an even initiated by Vardhini. This is also my today’s post for Bake-a-thon 2014

International Food Challenge linkup

Bake-a-thon linkup