Southern summer in a cake
I received a lot of love on this cake on Instagram, so I decided to put it up on the blog, so dadadada! Here it is!
This cake was inspired by all the flavor profiles I love to combine with peaches, and of course, classic southern flavors like bourbon to umph it up.
Marveling at Marbling
This was my first time really decorating a cake. I bought a spinning cake stand and cardboard cake rounds to make sure I had all the right tools to really practice properly, and it was worth it. I can’t believe I ever tried decorating a cake without a spinning stand; it seems impossible now! The real stunner of the cake is for sure, no question, duh, the marbling buttercream effect. Mijji Song of Mijji Cakes has an incredibly easy to follow tutorial on her Instagram (praises to her for sharing it with the rest of the world!). For this color scheme, I kept the majority of the bourbon buttercream white (about 1/2 of what I used to frost it), then mixed in about 1/3 light orange bourbon buttercream and the rest a dusty pink color of bourbon buttercream. But have fun with it and use whatever colors you like! I think I could have definitely shaved off some more of the outer layer to dramatize the marbling effect, but alas, at least I know for next time!
I haven’t posted a recipe in awhile, and I’m pretty rusty when it comes to blogging. So let me know if you have any questions by commenting below!
Almond Cake with Roasted Peaches, Cardamom Crumb, and Bourbon Buttercream
This recipe combines all my favorite flavors to eat with peaches and is a southern cake at heart. The almond cake recipe is from Zoë François, who based it on Flo Braker’s Crystal Almond Pound Cake from The Simple Art of Perfect Baking. I followed mijjiCake's marble buttercream tutorial on Instagram. It definitely requires some patience, but it turns out beautifully!
Ingredients
for the cake
- 3/4 cup sifted cake flour*
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 7 oz almond paste
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 orange zested
- 5 eggs, room temperature
for the roasted peaches
- 5 ripe peaches, sliced
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
for the cardamom crumb
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
for the bourbon buttercream
- 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature*
- 1 lb. powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp bourbon
Instructions
for the cake
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter TWO 6" cake tins. Place parchment round at the bottom of the cake tin and butter.
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Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
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Beat the almond paste with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer until broken into tiny pieces. Add sugar and beat on medium low speed until it becomes sandy. Add butter, a tablespoon at a time, until you’ve added half. Scrape the bowl frequently. Let the almond, sugar and butter beat on medium-low speed until it becomes a uniform mixture, then add the remaining butter and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy for about 3 minutes.
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Add the vanilla and zest.
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Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl between each and allowing the eggs to incorporate before adding the next.
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Fold in half the flour, then repeat with remaining flour, just until combined.
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Fill the cake tins with batter, smooth the top and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
for the roasted peaches
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toss the sliced peaches, sugar, and lemon juice in an oven safe dish and baked for approximately 2 hours until the peaches are deep orange and resemble the consistency of a jammy cobbler filling.
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Once cooled, mixed the peaches, breaking up the slices to smaller chunks.
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Store roasted peaches in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
for the cardamom crumb
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Preheat the oven to 350°F.
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Toss the brown sugar, cardamom, and salt in a small bowl. Pour in the melted butter and stir until commbined. Add flour and stir until everything is combined.
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Pinch together the topping to form big and small "crumbs." Pour onto ungresaed oven safe dish and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown, tossing halfway through.
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Cool in pan and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
for the bourbon buttercream
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In a standing mixer with the whisk attachment, whipped the butter for 5 minutes until it's light and fluffy. Turn off the mixer
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While the mixer is off, add all the powdered sugar at once and whisk on the lowest setting. Whisk until the sugar is incorporated (you don't want a dust cloud of powdered sugar in your face!).
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Add the bourbon to the buttercream then whip on high for 2-3 minutes until everything is incorporated and your desired consistency is reached.
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Once whipped, fold the buttercream with a spatula to get rid of any big air bubbles.
to assmeble the cake
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I assembled the cake by placing one layer of almond cake down on a cake stand. I then piped buttercream around the edge to keep the roasted peach filling in. I then placed the roasted peach filling in the center and topped it with the cardamom crumb. See Recipe Notes below for some tips on decorating a cake!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnLXSFdNBPDozhsyJfgyIkg
Recipe Notes
* If you don't have access to cake flour, you can always use all-purpose flour and replace 1 tbsp of the flour with cornstarch.
* The butter must be at room temperature for it to whip properly! Don't skip this step!
Zoë François has a wonderful YouTube channel where she shows how to decorate various cakes! I would definitely check it out here. Comment below if you have any other questions, and don't forget to have fun!
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