light almond cake

When I baked this light almond cake, I was in such a hurry to sample the cake that I did not wait for the cake to cool down before I started slicing the cake. Big mistake... as the cake was still a little hot, the centre portion of the cake crumbled easily when I sliced the cake.

Next time, I shall make sure that I stay away from my knife until the cake has cooled down thoroughly. *grin*

Notwithstanding the "little disaster" (for which I take full responsibility), the cake melted in my mouth as I ate it. It was so soft that I could not help but grin in excitement.

This is essentially a simple tea cake recipe but I modified it as I wanted to add almond flakes and ground almond. Due to the inclusion of the ground almond, you need to add more liquid (in this case, milk) otherwise the batter would not have the dropping consistency.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup self-raising flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

60g butter (softened)

1/2 cup castor sugar

1 egg (lightly beaten)

1 tsp almond essence

1/2 cup ground almond

1/2 cup almond flakes

2/3 cup low fat milk

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease the side and base of an 8" round cake pan. Line the base with baking paper and flour the side. Set aside.

3. Sift the self-raising flour and the ground cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

5. Add the egg and mix well.

6. Add the almond essence and ground almond and mix until blended.

7. Stir in the almond flakes using a wooden spatula.

8. Add the milk and fold in the flour using the wooden spatula and mix until just blended.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.