Bake Along # 32 – Almond Streusel Cake

Craving for something sweet!

Streusel is a word I heard about a year back and I was skeptical about the idea of crumbling flour, sugar and butter.I would rather eat a piece of soft and fluffy cake why streusel? What difference would it make to the cake, good or bad? The first time I tried streusel was with muffins. And the moment I tried a bite, there was answer to every doubtful question I had. So most likely you would also go through what I did and this weeks cake is going to beat all your previous experiences!!

While I was looking out for streusel recipes, I narrowed down to Martha s. With my recent instincts on having fluffy vanilla cakes, I decided to alter the base cake recipe a bit increasing butter a little more and an additional egg considering we end up not having large eggs :). And yes I altered the leavening agents also, and finally I ended up having utterly butterly soft cake that was bouncing back with the rich streusel soaking its flavour everywhere in the cake. Heaven is the word.

As in the original recipe, I decided to make in a bundt pan I had in silicon. The same thing can be done in regular round or square pans too. This one has layers of cake and streusel wide opening the doors to heaven . Streusel has cinnamon and cloves powder with dark brown sugar. The flavours seep through the entire cake and you cannot comment about the taste for atleast couple minutes because you will be completely indulging closing your eyes unable to open your mouth when someone is asking, come on tell me how is that

I really like how the center streusel layer is appearing reminding me of the orbit. If you are making this cake in a regular round/square pan, you dont have to invert the cake to drizzle the sugar glaze. I had to do it, because it was a bundt pan.

On a serious note, I did something that none of you could afford to do!! This is not the time for any guessing game I know . Part of this sinful treat was sent to my friend and the remaining part was sent to my daughter’s play date!! Lol, but seriously you will know why this thing is not affordable after you finish baking it. It is a beautiful thing!

Ingredients:

Streusel Topping:

Light brown sugar – 1 1/2 cups ( Can use jaggary 1 cup, in case using jaggary, use organic pure jaggary
without impurities, not the regular one )
Cinnamon powder* – 1 tablespoon
Cloves powder *- 1/4 teaspoon
Granulated white sugar – 1/2 cup
All-purpose flour – 1/2 cup
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Butter – 1/2 cup, melted
Almonds – 1 cup, chopped

* If you dont find cinnamon and cloves powder, take three pieces of 2 inch cinnamon sticks, and 3 cloves along with
1 tablespoon of granulated white sugar and process in your small jar mixie/food processor for 2 to 5 minutes on high speed. I save the dusty powder that is collected on the lid of the jar and process the remaining again and finally sift the powder and discard the grainy part. You can alter the measurements based on how much you want to make and save it for later use.

Cake:

All-purpose flour – 2 1/2 cups
Baking Soda – 1/2 teaspoon
Baking powder – 2 teaspoon
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Unsalted butter – 1 1/2 cups ( 300 gms ), at room temperature
Granulated white sugar – 1 1/4 cups
Eggs – 4
Vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
Sour cream** – 1 1/4 cup

** To 1 1/4 cup of dairy fresh cream, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar/lemon juice and set aside for 5 minutes and use in place of sour cream.

Sugar Glaze:

Icing sugar – 1 cup
Milk – 2 teaspoons, adjust

Method:

For Streusel:

1. Add flour, brown sugar, granulated white sugar, salt, cinnamon and cloves powder in a bowl and whisk them together until well combined. Add the melted butter and mix well. It should resemble moist crumbs.

2. Now add almond flakes or chopped almonds and mix well using your finger tips. Do not try to collect them together. Use only finger tips to mix all ingredients and they have to resemble wet crumbs. Set aside until you prepare your batter.

For Cake:

1. Pre-heat oven to 170 degree C. Butter and flour your pan. Use a large bundt pan if using. If you dont have a bundt pan, use 10 inch round and 4 inch deep pan. If you dont have deeper pans, use 2 pans or halve the recipe. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. Add butter into a bowl and beat for a minute until it has softened up. Add sugar and beat on high speed for 5 to 8 minutes until the mixture becomes pale yellow, creamy and fluffy. This process is where your batter collects air and you have to be patient and continue beating until you find it fluffy.

3. Add the eggs one by one and beat for about one minute after each addition. Be patient again and beat for 1 minute after each egg. Eggs have to be incorporated really well into your batter.

4. Now add the flour mixture in three parts and sour cream in two parts, alternating both, starting and ending with flour mixture. Seems simple enough to write this in a line. It works like this,

Add 1/3 rd of flour – beat

Add 1/2 of sour cream – beat

Add second 1/3 rd portion of flour – beat

Add remaining sour cream – beat

Add last portion of flour – beat

Here you beat after every addition, just until the ingredients are incorporated. Do NOT over beat, or you will end up having tougher cake.

5. Add half of the batter into the prepared pan. Use back of your spoon to smoothen out the batter. Sprinkle Streusel on top of the batter covering the entire surface and press it lightly with your fingers.

6. Add the remaining batter on top of the streusel filling and smooth out the batter using back of a spoon. Now add the remaining streusel on top of the batter and press it lightly using your fingers. Bake in pre-heated oven for 40 to 50 minutes until the top is golden brown and a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

7. For glaze: In a bowl add icing sugar and milk and mix well. If consistency is thick, keep adding 1/2 teaspoon of milk at a time. Do not pour without measuring, it will become too thin. Transfer the streusel cake into serving plate and drizzle the glaze on top and let set for 30 minutes.

Do you think you will wait for the glaze to set ?. Me ? No I didn’t

You can store them in airtight containers in refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Microwave them for 10 seconds before serving. You can also serve them a little cold but make sure they are not firm direct from the refrigerator.

I know probably you are waiting for me to tell you some variations , for those who dont like cinnamon in cakes. I rather had that impression for myself, but after making fruit cakes I have fallen in love with cinnamon in cakes. But for those few who still dont like cinnamon, can replace cinnamon with coffee powder. Oh yeah, I like those sparkling eyes there !! And as a tradition, you can add lemon/orange zest to your batter along with flour. Finally while serving you can drizzle them with hot chocolate sauce and a scoop of ice cream.

This has been baked for Fondbites, Bake Along, a group of enthusiastic bakers, bake one recipe every week along with me. To join the group, send a join request in the facebook group and I will send you a confirmation message, after you confirm that you will bake every recipe with me each week, I will add you to the group

Recipes of previous Bake Along can be viewed here

Members – Once after you finish baking, post the link of your finished picture below using the linky tool.