Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Tuesdays with Dorie: Almond Tea Cake

This week Carmen of Carmen Cooks chose Dorie's Coconut Tea Cake. I know a few weeks ago I raved about the toasted coconut custard tart but in reality, that was enough coconut to last me about a year. So, rather than skip a week I simply skipped the coconut!

I opted to make an almond tea cake instead and it was wonderful.

All I did was use regular milk instead of the coconut and flaked almonds both in and on top of my little cake. And I do mean little - the photos are quite deceptive because I made just 1/4 of the recipe in a baby loaf pan, about the size of a muffin!

The taste test ...

I love 'plain' cakes like this. To me they are so satisfying and comforting and like Dorie says, they are something you can cut a slice from every time you walk through the kitchen. I was a little worried how it would turn out because the cake mix was like a runny pancake batter but it baked up beautifully and was fabulously moist.

While it was still warm I brushed the top with melted butter and dusted over some cinnamon sugar. It really doesn't get much better than that!

Thanks for a great pick Carmen!

And also my apologies to Jody of Beansy Loves Cake for skipping the Dulce de Leche Duos. My grandmother passed away last week, aged 84, and my heart just wasn't into baking.

I really have to credit my grandma for my love of cooking. While my mum was a pretty good cook she never really enjoyed it. Grandma, on the other hand, seemed to find it therapeutic rather than a chore and turned out some wonderful meals. I took Oscar to see her in hospital a few days before she died and she was thrilled to see him. She will be missed :-(

21 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your gran. Passing on her love of cooking is a wonderful legacy.

    Your tea cake looks devine - it looks like a full size loaf in the photos. Almond is such a lovely flavour.

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  2. Sorry about your grandmom...

    What a wonderful tea cake, I love almond and might give this variation a try one of these days!
    I turned the recipe into mini-cupcakes, they were sooo cute and tasty too!!

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  3. while i love coconut, almond tea cake with cinnamon sugar sounds delicious! i have sliced almonds sitting in the kitchen waiting to jump into a cake this might be the one :)

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  4. Ciao ! Sorry for your grandma !
    I love your idea of almonds !!

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  5. I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. It looks like you have inherited her talent and love of baking :-)

    Your cake looks wonderful, I loved the coconut cake but your little loaves are just gorgeous. I must try the recipe one day :-)

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  6. Sorry about your grandma. Hope you have lots of her recipes.

    Nice job converting this recipe. I love almonds too so will make note of this for future reference.

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  7. Mmm...I like almonds even more than I like coconut, and I can always use another almond cake recipe, so thanks! I wonder if almond milk would be a good addition? Nice photos--it definitely looks like a full-size cake!

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  8. I'm so sorry about your grandmother, my sweet dad passed away almost 5 years ago and I miss him every day.
    I love coconut but I also love almond. I will give it a try with almonds!

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  9. Oh Susan, I'm sorry that you lost your grandmother. It's wonderful that you have your love of baking to remind you of her.

    Making this cake with almonds is a great substitution for the coconut.

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  10. Sorry about your Grandmas passing. That is a hard thing to go through.
    YOur cake looks so good..I love the almond idea!

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  11. Sorry to hear about your grandma. Almonds sound like a great sub.

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  12. I'm sorry about your grandma. Your memory of her love of baking is beautiful.

    Your cake looks so cute - and delicious!

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  13. So sorry about your grandmother.

    What a great way to make this cake appealing to the coconut haters! I'll need to remember this for next time - almonds sound so much better to me than coconut. Looks wonderful!

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  14. Oh yum! I wonder if you could even add almond flour for some of the all-purpose?

    And I, too, am sorry about your grandmother.

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  15. I am sorry to hear of your Grandmother's passing. It is wonderful you can remember her through your baking. :)

    I like your almond version of this recipe. I may have to try that.

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  16. Sorry about your grandmother.

    Your almond tea cake sounds amazing!

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  17. sorry to hear about your gma. i love that cooking can remind you of her :). so fun to have those traditions in a family.

    your cake looks so moist and delicious. love the almond cinnamon combo!

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  18. Your cake is beautiful...love the almonds on top!

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  19. Wonderful idea. I love coconut, but I love almond too. Maybe I could combine the two. Plus chocolate chips! Thanks for the idea!

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  20. You got a beautiful texture on your little loaf, it looks good!

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  21. Sounds like your grandmother was truly a blessing your life...your picture and cake looks beautiful!

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