A German recipe. The Germans have a knack of making really tasty cakes, but it was a friend of ours that asked us to make it, and it turned out to be a bit of a hit at the bistro.

This one is supposed to be yeasted. I don’t have very much luck with yeasted cakes, they just always come out heavy and miserable. Considering I’m the granddaughter of a baker, you would think I would’ve inherited some talent in the bread department. It still alludes me.

We’ve adapted this recipe so that it’s not a bread recipe, and it’s a bit lighter like the cakes were used to in the UK. It’s the crunchy almonds and custard cream filling that makes it though. We make these in individual loaf tins. By all means, make it in whatever shapes takes your fancy. You will need to alter the cooking times to suit. This makes around 9 mini loaves.

Tools:

  • Stand mixer with paddle and balloon whisk attachment

  • Individual (mini) loaf tins

  • Piping bag

Ingredients

  • 125g butter at room temperature

  • 125g caster sugar

  • 4 x eggs

  • 1 x teaspoon almond essence

  • 125ml milk

  • 200g self-raising flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 150g ground almonds

For the crunchy almond top

  • 70g butter

  • 70g caster sugar

  • 3 tablespoons cream

  • 150g flaked almonds

  • 90g honey

Crème pâtissière filling

  • 2 egg yolks

  • 1 x teaspoon vanilla

  • 25g caster sugar

  • 12g cornflour

  • 10g butter

  • 125ml milk

  • 150ml double cream

Method

Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Begin by making the crème patisserie base for your filling. Add the egg yolks, caster sugar and cornflour to a saucepan. Mix until it comes to a smooth paste.

On a low heat add the butter, vanilla and milk and stir continuously until the mixture begins to thicken. As soon as it does, take off the heat and cover the top with cling film to stop a skin forming. Leave to cool.

Grease spray or line your baking tins. To make the cake, add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and cream with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add all of your other ingredients and beat until combined. Divide your mixture between your tins and place them on a baking tray.

Place in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes or until just golden brown and firm to the touch. Take them out of the oven, and start making your crunchy topping. Add all of your ingredients except the flaked almonds to a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring continuously. The mixture should begin to bubble and change to a caramel colour. As soon as it does this, add in your flaked almonds and take off the heat. Stir to combine.

Divide the almond mixture between your mini loaves, making sure the tops are thoroughly covered. Return to the oven for 10 minutes or until the topping is a lovely toasty brown. You may need to occasionally move the baking tray around so that they get an even browning.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool enough so you can handle them. Gently remove the cakes from their tins and leave to cool completely. If you made the rookie mistake of not reading this recipe fully, and you’ve left the cakes to cool in their tins, you will find that you cannot get them out because the caramel has set. Put them back into the oven just to warm through and loosen up.

In the meantime, go ahead and pop your double cream into the bowl of a stand mixer with a balloon whisk. Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. Add your cool crème pâtissière and whisk again until combined. Put straight into a piping bag.

Cut your now cool cakes in half, length ways. Pipe your crème pâtissière in the middle, go as high as you want, and place the top back on.

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