Eggless Almond Cake With Almond Buttercream Icing

Posted on by Anushruti
Eggless Almond Cake With Almond Buttercream Icing

“Are you game for a different cake this time?” I asked Ro, on the eve of his birthday.“Why not?” he replied. Catering to his specific tastes, I had always made plain cakes with cream and fruits (read Lychee and Strawberry Cream Layer Cake) or Chocolate Cakes with Ganache and exotic fruits for his birthdays in the past.

Once I got my affirmations, my mind set to work. I have always been creating a special cake for him on his special day and I had no mind to break the tradition. But this time I had some limitations. Time was the biggest. I didnt have any on hand to spend hours on an elaborately decorated festive cake. Afterall I have a baby who constantly (read 24 hours) needs my attention.

I had to make a lovely cake with the restrictions and the limitations. I truly adore almonds and decided to make a cake highlighting them, hoping that he would like it too. While deciding on the base cake, I made up my mind to do a cake with condensed milk. A celebration cake without “this can of sweet nectar” is a strict “no, no” for me. Condensed milk adds richness, flavour, taste and gives the best texture to an eggless cake, besides adding the required sweet touch.

This almond cake serves as a beautiful and wonderful dessert, perfect for any special occasion. It looks pretty and doesnt require ample cake decorating skills too. I promise you  it is quite easy to put together. Also you can think of various permutations and combinations here. Chocolate Cake with Almond Buttercream Icing or Eggless Almond Cake with Chocolate buttercream frosting are some of the endless possibilities.

Eggless Almond Cake with Almond Buttercream Icing Recipe

Since this cake is soaked with a syrup, it tastes best when chilled. I like to use salted butter for the icing which tastes great, but feel free to use unsalted butter if you dont like to use salted butter.

Ingredients:

For the Eggless Almond Cake:

175 gm (1 1/4 cup) plain flour
50 gm (1/3 cup) almonds
1 tin, 400 gm sweetened condensed milk
100 gm (1/2 cup or 1 stick) butter, melted
175 ml ( 3/4 cup or 6 fl oz) water
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pure almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Almond Buttercream Icing*:

50 gm (1/3 cup) almonds, chopped and toasted in a skillet
100 gm (1/2 cup) salted butter
200 gm (1 1/2 cup) Icing or confectioners sugar
2 to 4 tbsp milk  or cream to get the desired consistency
1/2 tsp almond extract

PFor the soaking syrup
1 cup (250 ml) water)
2 tbsp sugar

Method:

To make the cake:

Place the almonds In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade or an electric coffee mill and pulse until finely ground. It is important not to over grind as you would end up with almond butter instead of almond meal.

Grease and line the bottom of a  deep 9” round cake tin with greaseproof paper/baking parchment or butter paper. Alternatively use 2 9” round shallow cake tins and divide the batter accordingly. Preheat the oven at 150 degrees centigrade.

In a mixing bowl, assemble the flour, baking powder and baking soda, mix with a spoon and sieve once to make the mixture uniform. Stir in the almond meal into the flour mixture.

In a large bowl assemble the liquid ingredients the melted butter, condensed milk, water, almond and vanilla extract and using a hand blender beat until well mixed. Add half the flour mixture and beat again. Put in the remaining flour mixture and beat until you get a smooth batter without lumps. Dont over beat the batter as this would interfere with getting a soft cake.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for about 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes clean.

To make the Almond Buttercream Icing:

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Put in almond extract and enough milk to get a firm but soft buttercream.

To make the soaking syrup:

In a small saucepan, place the water and the sugar and bring to a boil over a medium flame. Allow to cool.

Assembling the cake:

If you, like me baked the cake in one 9” round deep cake tin then you need to slice the cake into two equal halves.

Place the bottom half of the cake on a serving dish. Pour some of the soaking syrup to wet the cake. Spread 1/4 of the icing and a little of the chopped and toasted almonds over it. Place the remaining half cake over this, pour a little more of the soaking syrup over the cake and spread with the remaining icing. Arrange the remaining almonds decoratively over the cake.

Chill the cake before serving.

Makes one 9" round or 8" square cake

*The icing quantity can be doubled for more elaborate icing.

*Slicing the cake into two halves is optional

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70 thoughts on “Eggless Almond Cake With Almond Buttercream Icing”

  2. splendid pics …and great cake..its amazing how u've managed to create something so beautiful inspite of pressing demands…kudos!

  3. Absolutely love the pics and you are my one-stop blog when I am looking for Marvelous eggless Cakes[making your eggless chocolate cupcakes now..]

  7. If with limitations in time you can make this awesome cake I wonder what you can create when you have time at your disposal! 🙂 Wonderful presentation Anu, I can almost taste the almonds!

  9. Thank you everybody.

    Divya: Hope your cakes turn out fabulous! 🙂

    Preethi: How I wish I could share it with you.

    Asha: You are so right! This cake is "perfect" for a celebration.

  12. Hello!

    Awesome cake! Just wondering if I could use almond brand to make the cake. Thank you!

  13. This is truly awesome! I love almonds and this is surely a must try recipe. Belated wishes to your hubby too.

  16. Made this cake for my dad's birthday today! It was a big hit with my folks!! They say it's one of the best cakes I've ever made!

  18. This is the first cake I ever baked,came out well.It was my hubby's birthday and this cake was a delight for sure 🙂
    Now planning few of the curries and vegetables for the evening from your collection!!
    Amazing recipes n pics Anu akka 🙂

  19. Hmmm.. U forgot to mention that the ground almonds need to be combined with the flour mixture. I tried this recipe and the texture was a bit oily!! Also I found out that the liquid ingredients might be too much.. Can you please tell me if I am doing anything wrong?? Thanks (By the way, I made cupcakes, instead of a big cake)

  20. Mithy: Were your almonds ground into a powder or had they turned pasty? Using dry almond powder is key to get a soft and moist cake which is not oily. Also, if you decided to make these into cupcakes, for how much time did you bake them? Cupcakes need less time in the oven in comparison to regular cakes.

  21. Actually, I used 50 grams of ground almonds (the one from the store). I did not grind it myself.
    I don't see in the recipe where this ground almond is incorporated. I presume that it should be blended with the flour.
    Thanks

  25. Hey,
    I just wanted to thank you so much for this recipe. I have tried so many before but none were so perfect as this one. My kids loved it.
    I did modify the list a bit. I used 1/2 tsp soda instead of 1 tsp. And I used total 1 and 1/2 cup of flour (no almond pieces).

    I loved the cake. Thank you very much for sharing.

  26. Hi there,

    thank you so much for the recipe. My son has numerous food allergies including dairy, eggs, and wheat. Do you think i could substitute rice milk or coconut milk for the condensed milk in your recipe and buckwheat flour for the plain flour?

    I would really appreciate your thoughts. His birthday is on the weekend and i would like to try this cake—thanks again!

  27. Bama: Sorry for the delayed response. Unfortunately, these substitutes will not work here and will affect the texture and taste of the cake. Glutenfree cakes need a binding agent and I'm yet to test a recipe for the same.

  29. Hi !! i made this cake today without the icing and it turned out to be deliciously yummy !! All warm and almond flavor..Thank you so much !!

  31. Hi anu i baked this cake yesterday and it is very tasty,i had to struggle to get the icing part a lot,but then it worked.my daughter likes all types of cakes but my son is more particular of chocolate cakes,,so i am having a variety at home while i bake..
    thumbs upp..keep posting
    Bhuvana

  34. Hi I baked this cake and my family and friends loved it..came out perfect. I baked it in two lots in 6 inch pan to give it height and it looked just perfect after the icing and decoration. Thanx for the wonderful recipe.

  36. Hi Anushruti,
    I have been a silent and frequent visitor to your website and I have to say, I love all your recipes. I made this cake for my dad's birthday and it turned out fabulous. He loved it so much, he cleared most of the cake himself. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes and hope to see more in future. 🙂

  37. Josna: How wonderful! That is one of the most gratifying things about baking..making your loved ones happy! Belated birthday wishes to your dad!

  38. This is a brilliant recipe. I sort of like it more than the one with egg. Turned out really soft and delicious. I am a huge fan of almonds and it just makes my life so easy. Three cheers!!

  41. Hi this is a good recipe. Just had 1 question can I use amul cream instead of butter in the icing? Thanks.

  43. Hi Anu,

    Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe! Just a query: I have already got ground almond powder. You have used 1/3 cup of almonds and ground them in a processor. After making a powder did you still use 1/3 cup of ground almond flour or more than that? could you please give me the exact amount of ground almond flour that you had mixed with the plain flour?

  44. Hi All,
    I've used this recipe but it didn't turn the way I expected.
    European almond cakes are dry inside, they're dense and rich but this recipe makes the almond cake too moist (inside & outside both).
    I've taken a picture of the cake using the above recipe before soaking syrup & cream steps, if anyone wishes to have a look.
    Genuine almond cakes are soft, yellowish colour and drier inside unlike this one.Make any search on Google and you'll get a picture of a genuine almond cake.
    I think we vegetarians need to look more and more before coming with a genuine eggless almond cake.
    Karishma

  45. Karishma: I have not made any claims whatsoever that this is a European inspired cake. This is my take on an Almond cake for a celebration and it is not meant to be a Tea cake which the European almond cakes usually are! And the yellow colour that you are referring to in European cakes comes from "egg yolks" which we are not using here.

    Needless to say this it takes a lot of time, energy and efforts to develop eggless recipes and put them in the form I have over here and I'm happy when my readers acknowledge the work that goes behind the scene.

    I wouldnt change a thing of about this recipe and I remember people who ate it saying it is one of the best cakes they ever ate. Besides, this has also been tried, tested and loved by others as attested by them in the comments.

    That said, If I were to make an Eggless French Almond Cake, this would not be it. 🙂

  46. What purpose does the soaking syrup serve? Is it because the cake is dry? I am hesitant about doing this because I am scared it will be too sweet?

  47. Tanvi: All wet cakes have a soaking syrup which makes the cake moist and flavourful.. Don't worry about the cake being sweet..go ahead and try it! You might love it.

  48. Hi Anushruthi,

    Wonderful recipe, want to try it soon, just a query can I use store bought almond meal.

  49. Shilpa: Almond meal will be a little coarse. Try and use Almond flour. If you have almond meal then just grind it into a fine powder.

  50. Hi Anu, Lovely recipe as usual. I'm quite excited to try making this cake . However I dont have almond extract. What can be used as a substitute for almond extract???

  52. Hey everyone….just trying this recipe today keeping my toddler girl in mind….one question…what should be the oven temperature? Preheating at 150 is fine..what about the one later?

    Fingers crossed I have it at 350..let me know plz

    Regards
    Deepti(level 0 in baking)

  56. Replacing the almonds with pistachios for a pistachio cake – do you think about it would work out ?

  59. Hi Anu,

    I tried this cake, but it turned out as if there was a bit excess of liquid.
    What should be the consistency of the final batter when you make it? Is it of dropping consistency / a bit runny / creamy?

    Also here is tip I got from Joy of Baking to ensure we get almond meal and not almong butter : Pulse the almonds with a teaspoon of sugar!

  60. Viji-mThe consistency should be soft and creamy and easy to spoon into the cake tin. Make sure you measure your flour right. Thanks for the tip. 🙂

  61. Your recipe is awesome. I made it on janamastmi with a few changes . It turned out moist n yummy. Wanted to post a pic of the cake as a mark of gratitude but culd nt find the option. God bless!

  62. Today again i baked the cake but used 3/4 th milkmaid tin n 1/4th caramel sauce with butterscotch essence . I have glazed it wth caramel sauce n it turned out to be a big hit in the home.
    My query is when i ahd tried my hand at buttercream frosting befor it turned out to be a bit gritty culd you please guide me in the matter

  63. riti- Thanks! You can send the picture to me via facebook divinetaste page or mail it to me via the contact page. Look forward to seeing the pic.

  65. If I want to make this cake for app 50 people what would be the measurements for ingredients and the oven cooking temp and time

  66. You will have to triple the recipe. Bake in 3 pans or 2 pans. Baking time and temperature remains same. If cake is not baked when a skewer is inserted then bake for 5 to 10 minutes more.

  67. Hi
    Very nice cake.
    Can I use wheat flr instead apf?
    And waiting for lychee strawberry cream cake……. Plzz share .

  68. I don't think you need 3/4 cup of water. You'll need just about a few tablespoons to a 1/4 cup of water or milk if you want the batter to be right. Else the cake will fall.

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