This is the almond cake I’ll bake forever, and it’s been tested, tweaked, and perfected. This recipe makes a dreamy, tender-crumbed cake boosted with almond paste and butter. It’s ready for fruit, creamy icing, or simply served plain, cut into thick wedges to eat with your fingers straight from the cake plate.

A round almond cake topped with creamy white icing, fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and sliced grapes, dusted with powdered sugar, sits on a plate with a knife beside it.

I got busy testing almond cake recipes, in search of “the one,” a go-to cake for any occasion. My cake recipe research narrowed down to a list of delicious contenders.

  • I mixed an almond cake with olive oil (no butter) that turned out with a chiffon-like crumb that was dry and more crumbly than I wanted.
  • Next, I tried a recipe from Diana Henry, whose almond cake calls for marzipan (basically the same as almond paste but sweeter with more sugar) and fruit baked right in.
  • Ultimately, I landed on what turned out to be my favorite, a cake from Samin Nosrat’s book Salt Fat Acid Heat. As a side note, If you haven’t picked up Samin’s book already, do it now! It’s a little treasure for anyone obsessed with food and learning how to cook instinctively.

Fruit to pair with almond cake

Almond cake is a perfect to pair with just about any type of seasonal fruit, like macerated summer peaches and ALL the berries, or apples and pears in the fall. I love to serve this cake topped with my baked, spiced apple slices.

A slice of almond cake with white icing and assorted fresh berries sits on a plate with a fork, in front of the remaining cake topped with berries and powdered sugar. A small plate with extra berries is in the background.

What makes this almond cake a standout

  • Instead of using ground almonds or almond flour, the cake is made with a mixture of almond paste and all purpose flour. This creates a nicely balanced texture that’s moist, but not too dense.
  • The method of dribbling eggs into the butter while the processor is running — essentially making an emulsion — is a genius move.
A round almond cake topped with creamy white icing, fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and sliced grapes, dusted with powdered sugar, sits on a plate with a knife beside it.
4.94 from 30 ratings

Best Ever Moist Almond Cake

Karen Tedesco
This almond cake has a moist, velvety crumb, and it's perfect to serve plain with powdered sugar and fresh fruit, with or without a creamy glaze on top. This cake is easily made gluten-free by substituting a gluten-free flour blend for the all purpose.
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Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients
 

Makes one 9-inch cake

  • 1 cup (130 g) all purpose flour or gluten-free flour blend
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 7-ounce (212 g) tube almond paste, crumbled into small pieces
  • 1 ¼ cups (275 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) room temperature unsalted butter
  • 4 lightly beaten room temperature eggs

Topping

  • 4 ounces (125 g) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons (45 g) softened butter
  • 1 ¼ cups (150 g) powdered sugar, sifted through a mesh strainer if lumpy
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1-2 cups (444 g) mixed blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries

Equipment

Instructions
 

Almond Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
  2. Whisk 1 cup all purpose flour or gluten-free flour blend cup and ½ teaspoon fine sea saltn a small bowl.
  3. Pulse 1 7-ounce tube almond paste in a food processor until it's broken into even pieces. Add 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar and process for 30 seconds, until the mixture appears fine and sandy textured.
  4. Add 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) room temperature unsalted butter and process for a full 2 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the work bowl if necessary.
  5. With the machine running, slowly dribble in 4 lightly beaten room temperature eggs. Your goal at this point is to emulsify the batter until it becomes thick, blended and creamy.
  6. Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl. Place a strainer over the bowl and sift the flour mixture over the batter. Fold gently to mix, just until the flour is incorporated.
  7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and the top springs back lightly.
  8. Cool the cake 20 minutes, then release the sides of the pan and cool completely on a rack.

Make the topping

  1. Beat 4 ounces cream cheese and 3 tablespoons softened butter in a stand mixer on medium speed with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar and ½ teaspoon salt and beat until creamy. Refrigerate until it's time to serve the cake.
  2. Spread the topping over the cake and decorate the top of the cake with 1-2 cups mixed blueberries. Slice into wedges to serve.

Notes

  • If you’d like to use almond flour, I suggest substituting half the amount of all purpose flour (1/2 cup) with almond flour. Because the cake is based on almond paste, using all almond flour would make a very dense cake.
  • Wait until the cake is completely cool before topping with the icing. After icing, the cake can be lightly covered with plastic and refrigerated, but add the berries just before serving.
  • Serving ideas: Instead of berries and the glaze I used, you can decorate the cake with lightly sweetened sour cream or simply with powdered sugar and sliced almonds.
  • Store the plain cake (without icing) at room temperature, wrapped in plastic for 3-4 days. Refrigerate the iced cake one day.
Adapted from a recipe in Salt, Fat, Acid Heat.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 425kcal Carbohydrates: 77g Protein: 6g Fat: 12g Sodium: 423mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 61g

Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.

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