Almond Cake Surprise

When I asked my director at work what he'd like for a birthday treat, he sent me a link to one of Giada's almond cake recipes. I thought, hey, no problem! Consider it done! Then I realized that I'd need to double the recipe and then I couldn't find almond paste at the regular grocery store and then...well, so here is my version that is inspired by Giada's!

Almond Cake with Vanilla Glaze

• 1 cup fine cornmeal (I used Alber's)
• 1 cup cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup finely ground almonds
• 1-2 tsp pure almond extract
• 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 eggs
• 6 egg yolks (yes, you read this correctly!)
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 10" springform pan.

Beat together butter, almonds and almond extract on high until smooth. Reduce the speed and slowly add powdered sugar, mixing until fluffy. With the mixer on high gradually add the vanilla extract, eggs and egg yolks and mix until well combined. Reduce speed and add sour cream along with all dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated but do not overstir!

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth off the top. Place on the lower rack of your preheated oven to bake. Bake for at least 45 minutes - cake should be golden, slightly pulling away from the edges of the pan and pass the toothpick test. As a side note, I didn't do this last part which resulted in a cake that wasn't fully baked and fell somewhat flat after removing it from the oven. Don't be like me!

Cool cake completely and remove outer ring to springform pan. Spread vanilla glaze over the top of the cooled cake, let it harden up a little bit and then dust with some extra powdered sugar. This may not be a winner in the looks department but the taste is said to be divine.

Note: I think that using ground almonds and almond extract provides a more authentic flavor than using almond paste. I know some people have made their own paste with almonds and marzipan but, not being a fan of marzipan, I took the more obvious route. If this makes too large of a cake for you, just half the recipe and use a 8 or 9-inch cake pan instead.