This traditional Italian dessert gets its name from the not-so-traditional main ingredient-almond flour. If you can’t find almond flour at your local market, you can make your own by grinding up blanched almonds in a food processor or coffee grinder. The density of the ground almonds lends a nice texture and tasty addition to a relatively easy cake, making it a year-round choice. And then there’s the lemon zest, which adds delicious brightness that makes each bite count. Do not skip this step!
You can serve the cake as is, with some honey, or slather on a blueberry cream cheese frosting to make this standout sweet even more scrumptious. Just remember to let the cake cool before adding the icing so you don’t make a mess. Top with fresh berries and enjoy!
Learn how to make a lemon almond cake and blueberry cream cheese frosting in this demonstration with our online baking program teacher. We promise this will easily become a go-to!
Almond Cakes with Blueberry Cream Cheese Icing
Almond Cake
Ingredients
8 oz. almond paste
8 oz. butter
8 oz. sugar
6 eggs
4 oz all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
Directions
1. Mix the almond paste with ½ of the sugar. Then, add ½ of the butter and mix until smooth. Add the remaining sugar and then the remaining butter. Sift the cake flour and add cake flour and eggs, alternating between both. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and the top springs back when touched.
Blueberry Jam
Ingredients
1 ½ cups blueberries
½ cup sugar
Directions
1. In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and blueberries to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat until thick, about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool and then blend until smooth.
Blueberry Sugar
Ingredients
1 ½ tbsp freeze dried blueberries
½ cup granulated sugar
Directions
1. In a blender or small spice grinder, blend until the sugar is no longer coarse
Blueberry Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
5 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
Blueberry sugar (from recipe above)
2 tbsp blueberry jam
Directions
1. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter on lowest speed. Add the blueberry sugar and mix until smooth. Add the blueberry jam last and mix until incorporated.
2. Once the almond cakes have cooled, add the blueberry cream cheese icing to a piping bag and decorate as desired. The cakes can also be served with a blueberry sauce by thinning the jam with a light simple syrup. For a sweeter icing, powdered sugar can be added.
