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Special cake ideas/recipes needed!


Brithack

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Hello,

I really need some help. A friend is leaving the office to go freelance, and I've been assigned the job of making his goodbye cake. He tells me that his favourite flavours are toffee and almond. So I've been trying to think of a cake that incorporates these flavours.

My initial ideas were to make a cake with ground almonds (natch), beurre noisette and soft dark brown sugar. Then I worried that it might be a completely foul combination.

Has anyone got any ideas or recipes for a cake which combines both toffee and almond flavours?

Or, does anyone think it's a fundamentally misguided combination?

Any help GREATLY appreciated. I have a week to work out a recipe...

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I personally think almond goes very well with toffee. Why don't you use your fav almond cake and fill it with Dulce de Leche, then cover with light whipped cream. If your friend is particularly partial to the taste of almond, you could add some amaretto to the whipped cream, or spike a syrup with it.

Here are some almond cakes, if you don't have one already.

Edited by Tepee (log)

TPcal!

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Please take pictures of all the food you get to try (and if you can, the food at the next tables)............................Dejah

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I make almond toffee at Christmas, so it's a good combo...it's how to incorporate them into a cake....What is the flavor of Toffee? browned sugar? caramel? both? Remember, marzipan is almonds and sugar so you could get flavor from there. May be completly whacked, but why not brown sugar and almondpaste between the layers and ameretto/whipped cream for the frosting? or ameretto and buttercream. I don't mean just brown sugar, make a frosting with it and roll the almond paste to fit on top (thin...very thin) top with another layer of cake then frost. I have seen brown sugar frosting somewhere...but then again it might not be the 'toffee' flavor you're looking for.

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Another idea would be to make a variation of a Blitz Torte-- (usually vanilla cake baked in two pans; on top of each is baked a ground almond-meringue mixture). Usually I fill the cakes with whipped cream or sometimes berries..

But maybe you could fill with some type of "toffee-like" filling or brown sugar frosting. I would probably ice the sides with whipped cream and then cover with toasted almond slices. Maybe the brown sugar icing could also go on the sides of the cake but perhaps that would be too sweet.

The brown butter-almond combo is also classically captured in French financiers. These are individual 'bars' or little cakes so they might not be what you want here. Also, I make a very good almond tart in which the filling is basically a toffee filling studded with sliced almonds...

I also pm'ed you a recipe for "Burnt Almond Cake" that I haven't tried yet. It's iced with a custard whipped cream. Crumbled almond brittle is sprinkled in between the layers and on the sides of the cake.

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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I immeadiately thought of Clotilde's Gateau aux Daims, which is a riff of the Buttercrunch Almond Tea Cake from Baking by Flavor.

Basically it is a Bundt cake using toffee bits (like Heath or Skor bars) and ground almonds (or slivered almonds in the original version). A great flavor combination.

It has a nice toffee-caramelly chunks and good crumb and could be gussied up with some sort of buterscotch or chocolate glaze.

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on th eother hand here is anther option...make an almond flavored cake with an almond flavored icing and put toffee pieces into the cake itself...toffe bits are not that hard to find anymore if you choose not to make them yourself...most grocery stores carry heath toffee bits or what they call toffee brickle bits on the baking isle ...sure its a prefab cheat but you can still be creative...it all depends upon you and what you want to do and what your level of experience is

a recipe is merely a suggestion

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This Epicurious English Toffee Cheesecake has almonds in it. One of the guys in my office requests it each year for his birthday cake.

Caveat: it's very sweet, but will easily serve 16 people or more; I don't put any gumdrops on top, either; you might add chocolate covered almonds on top to continue the almond theme.

Agenda-free since 1966.

Foodblog: Power, Convection and Lies

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Hello,

Has anyone got any ideas or recipes for a cake which combines both toffee and almond flavours?

Any help GREATLY appreciated. I have a week to work out a recipe...

I also saw this recipe a little while back for butterscotch cake and it looks great. Maybe just make less filling if it looks like to much work to do all the layers. If you do try it I'd love to hear your comments. I have a good recipe for English toffee with almonds which you could crush but if you buy english toffee bits it be hard to tell the difference. I can Pm it to you if you want it though.

chantal

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Hello,

Has anyone got any ideas or recipes for a cake which combines both toffee and almond flavours?

Any help GREATLY appreciated. I have a week to work out a recipe...

I also saw this recipe a little while back for butterscotch cake and it looks great. Maybe just make less filling if it looks like to much work to do all the layers. If you do try it I'd love to hear your comments. I have a good recipe for English toffee with almonds which you could crush but if you buy english toffee bits it be hard to tell the difference. I can Pm it to you if you want it though.

chantal

xxx

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