Alpine Almond Cake
A cake inspired by a 1980s chocolate bar.
you're making mealtime meaningful.
Alpine Almond Cake takes all of the elements of a classic 80s chocolate bar and puts it into cake form! This is the cake that takes the flavors of vanilla and almond and turns them up to one hundred. A tender cake is layered with whipped white chocolate ganache for a recipe that may put your classic vanilla cake to shame.
Background:
For the longest time, white chocolate has had a bad reputation. Journals written back in the 1930s and 40s write with open skepticism about Swiss “snow-white chocolate” that was produced in Europe. And it’s safe to say that that skepticism of white chocolate is still thriving today. Before you make the claim that white chocolate isn’t real chocolate, it is made from cocoa butter which is still a part of the same bean and still categorized as chocolate, yet suspicions from previous centuries weren’t baseless. White chocolate of the past was anything but chocolate. Recipes for white chocolate were a confectionary concoction of powdered sugar, tapioca, and strange ingredients like Icelandic moss and Indian arrowroot. It was only after the creation of the Broma process, a technique of extracting the cocoa from the bean and separating it from the cocoa butter, do we see cocoa butter used to make white chocolate. While there were some white chocolate treats on the market, it was never a full chocolate bar and most were produced exclusively for the European market.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that this sort of white chocolate bar came to the US. Nestle released Alpine White, a chocolate bar that was completely made of white chocolate and studded with almonds. While it doesn’t sound revolutionary, it was quite a different chocolate bar than others that were on the shelves of stores. Combined with interesting and new artistic marketing, it set the chocolate bar apart from its competitors.
This cake pages homage to Nestle’s Alpine White chocolate bar in the best possible way. A tender delicate cake is layered with whipped ganache and coated with sliced almonds for a cake that’s on a whole other level.
How to make the cake batter:
The cake batter is made with the reverse mixing method. This is when the butter is blended into the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients are gradually incorporated. This method cuts down not just the gluten levels in the cake, but it also reduces the size of the cake dome and produces fewer air bubbles in the batter.
When the butter is completely incorporated into the dry ingredients and batter has a smooth lump lump-free consistency, the cake batter is at the right texture. Divide the batter between the two pans. For the most even cake layers, you can weigh the cake batter, giving each pan 16.9 ounces or about 480 grams per cake pan. Once the batter is spread and smoothed into the cake pans, they bake in the oven until completely baked through.
What goes into the ganache?:
White Chocolate
Heavy Cream
Once the chocolate is melted, add the heavy cream alongside the vanilla and almond extracts into the bowl and refrigerate everything until completely firm, about three hours. Now whip the chilled ganache until it doubles in size.
Spread in and on top of the cake, and this Alpine Cake is ready to slice and serve.
The cake is delicate yet moist. It has a refined texture not taking away from the flavors of vanilla, almond, and white chocolate.
The whipped ganache is equally wonderful, with a perfect amount of chocolate to cream, making it creamy and not overly sweet.
Sliced almonds give the cake a perfect contrast in texture and amplify the almondy notes of flavor running through the frosting.
Alpine Almond Cake
Yield(s): Makes 1 2-layer 8-inch cake
30m prep time
30m cook time
4h inactive
you're making mealtime meaningful.
For the Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature cut into small cubes
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature
For the Frosting:
- 7 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 1/3 cups heavy cream, divided
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
To make the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 310 °F and grease 2 8-inch cake pans with baking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large bowl sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the butter into the dry ingredients and beat on a low speed. Keep beating until the butter is completely cut into the dry ingredients and looks like sand.
- Add eggs, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and almond extract, beating until combined. Add in milk in 3 additions, beating until well between each addition.
- Once the milk is all added, keep beating the cake batter for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Divide the batter between the 2 cake pans (about 480 grams or 16.9 ounces per cake pan), spreading the batter evenly between into the pans.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes before inverting onto a wire to cool the cakes completely.
To make the Frosting:
- In a microwave-safe bowl add white chocolate and 1/3 cup heavy cream, melting in 30-second intervals, whisking between each interval until completely melted.
- Add in the remaining heavy cream, wrap with plastic wrap and let it cool in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours. The ganache needs to be cooled completely before whipping.
- Once completely cooled, whip the ganache until doubled in volume. Add in vanilla and almond extracts.
To assemble the Cake:
- Use a knife to carefully remove the cake top, creating a flat cake layer. Cut the sides of the cake.
- Place some frosting on a cake platter or board and secure the bottom cake layer onto the board.
- Apply some of the frosting onto the top of the cake layer, spreading to create an even layer.
- Place the second cake layer on top. Spread the remaining frosting onto the top and sides of the cake. Garnish with sliced almonds.