Salted Almond Fudge Cake

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 cups Evaporated Cane Sugar
• 2 cups Water
• 4 oz Bittersweet Chocolate about 60%
• 1/4 cup Butter
• 1/2 tsp Espresso or Coffee Powder
• 1-1/2 cups Super Fine Cake Flour
• 1/2 cup Natural Almond Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp Almond Extract

Frosting

• 1 cup Cream
• 3/4 cup Evaporated Cane Sugar
• 3-1/2 oz Unsweetened Chocolate
• 2 oz Bittersweet Chocolate about 60%
• 1/4 cup Butter
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Decor

• Chopped Salted Almonds*
• Salted Chocolate Bar broken into chunks

Tools

• 8-inch round cake pans
• Parchment paper
• Large mixing bowl
• Measuring spoons & cups
• Measuring scale
• Spatula

Recipe Overview

The sugar syrup in this old-fashioned chocolate cake recipe gave us a great idea to make a super fudgy chocolate cake. Add some salted almonds (which are oh-so-easy to make at home) and you have the wonderful combos of sweet and salty, and fudgy and crunchy, all wrapped up into one in this salted almond fudge cake.

Recipe Detail

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray the sides with pan spray.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring sugar and water to a simmer and cook until sugar dissolves. Immediately remove from heat and add chocolate, butter, and espresso powder. Whisk to emulsify and let cool.
3. While the chocolate mixture is cooling, combine cake flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
4. Once chocolate mixture has cooled, whisk in eggs and extracts. Add about 1 cup of the chocolate mixture to the flour mixture and fold gently until combined, then continue to add the remaining chocolate mixture, folding gently until combined. This is a very loose batter.
5. Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans, about 2 cups per pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool before carefully removing from the pan.
6. While the cake bakes, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, combine the chocolates, butter, and vanilla extract, and set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the cream and sugar and simmer until the sugar dissolves. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Let cool for at least 1 hour before using. Cakes and frosting can be used once cooled or they can be rest overnight, keeping the cakes chilled and the frosting at room temperature.
7. To assemble, spread a layer of frosting on the top of one cake round and sprinkle generously with salted almonds. Place the second cake round onto of the first and frost the entire cake with the remaining frosting. Decorate the top of the cake with the chocolate bar chunks and the remaining salted almonds.

Recipe Notes

*To make your own salted almonds, whip one egg white until foamy. Add 1 cup of chopped almonds and ½ tsp kosher salt and toss well. Spread onto a parchment lined sheet tray and toast at 400°F for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice during toasting.

Evaporated Cane Sugar - Cane Sugar is made from simple sugar cane. It is slightly less processed than white sugar, so it retains more of its natural trace vitamins and minerals- it still has about the same amount of calories, however. It is slightly sweeter than white sugar, and has a mild caramel flavor and color. You can substitute the same amount of white sugar if do not have cane sugar.