Popular cook book author Alison Roman began her career as a pastry chef, and those continue to be some of her best recipes. (Salted butter and chocolate chunk shortbread cookies already posted here!) This buttery dense cake, made rich with almond flour will stay fresh for up to four days; but I seriously doubt it will be allowed to hang around that long on your counter. Alison wanted a cake that tasted like a muffin, so she created basically one giant muffin top in sliceable cake form. I served this last night to my family who raved and took home the remaining half.
My son-in-law Ryan is very kind about complimenting my cooking (he clearly wants to make sure I remain interested in feeding him). After tasting this he said “Cookie (that’s my grandma name) could have been a professional chef!” to which 10 year old Wyatt added ” But she chose to be a Grandma.” Made my day.
Non-stick spray for the pan
1 cup almond flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 3 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups blueberries
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9-inch fluted tart pan or round cake pan with nonstick spray.
Whisk together the almond flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
Using an electric mixer, in a medium bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar together on medium high speed until the mixture is super light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and with the mixer on medium, add the eggs one at a time, beating until each one is incorporated, followed by the vanilla. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is pale and nearly doubled in volume, 4 to 5 minutes. Fold in the almond mixture until no dry spots remain. Gently add 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries by hand, making sure you don’t totally smush them.
Transfer the batter to the prepared tart pan and, using a spatula or the back of a spoon, smooth the top. Sprinkle the remaining berries over the top of the cake – Alison left this out of the recipe!. Then sprinkle the 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar on top and bake until the cake is deeply golden brown and pulls away from the edges slightly, 30 to 40 minutes. It should start to crackle on top (what you’re looking for.)
Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing.
Note: I dumped all the blueberries in at once, without saving some to scatter over the top. I’m using Alison’s lovely photo as it shows off the berries so well! Both times I’ve made this it took more like 40 minutes to bake completely.
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This is in the oven now. I substituted cranberries for the blueberries because that’s what I had. It looks beautiful. Unfortunately, my husband accidentally turned off the timer, so I’ll be guessing about when it’s done. What should the internal temperature be?
And the almond flour will keep it moist and delicious for days! if you don’t eat it all right away that is…..