Best Ever Moist Almond Cake

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Seriously, this is the best moist almond cake! Serve the cake with seasonal fruit, or simply with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Includes a gluten-free variation.

I’ve been busy testing almond cake recipes, in search of the one.

By “the one,” I mean a simple almond cake recipe that tastes great served plain as a snack, in the morning with tea or coffee, or as a dressed-up dessert with cream cheese icing and fresh summer berries.

This lovely, fragrant almond cake is it. Made with almond paste and butter, it’s definitely one to bookmark when the baking urge strikes. Just like a basic t-shirt, this great cake goes with everything!

Almond cake ingredients:

Make this cake with a handful of ingredients.

• All-purpose flour or your preferred gluten-free baking flour.
• Almond paste
• Baking powder
• Whole eggs
• Granulated sugar
• Butter
• Salt

Fruits to pair with almond cake

Almond cake is a perfect to pair with seasonal fruits that come and go all year long:

• Lemon, orange and other citrus
• Rhubarb
• Peaches, plums and nectarines
• Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries (all the berries, basically)
• Apples and pears — try these baked, spiced apple slices

What flavors go well with almonds?

Almonds pair well with so many fruits. Especially stone fruits, because they’re actually related to them botanically: Peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries and even apples.

Stone fruit pits are also the source of bitter almond flavoring, which is used in extracts, liqueurs and baked goods.

The pits contain oils that are used to produce almond flavor extracts, each kernel harboring a small amount of prussic acid (a/k/a potassium cyanide).

But don’t worry — we’re talking trace amounts that are destroyed when heated during the manufacturing process.

Finally, my cake recipe research narrowed down to a handful of delicious contenders.

• I made 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.

After making the cake a few times and making some of my own tweaks, I’m happy to share a few gems about this recipe:

• 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 fluffy cake with moist texture.
• 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.
• The method of dribbling eggs into the butter while the processor is running — essentially making an emulsion — is a genius move.
• Another thing to love about making this cake is that you can mix the batter in a food processor.

The cake batter turns into a lusciously smooth mixture that bakes up lovely and soft-textured.

Note: If you don’t have a food processor, mix the batter with an electric mixer instead, first breaking the almond paste into crumbs with your hands.

Gluten-free almond cake

This cake can be made entirely gluten-free, if you like. I’ve made this cake using a gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour and it turns out perfectly.

I have a feeling you’re going to fall in love with the texture and intense almond flavor of this cake! Try it as a tea cake or alongside your favorite seasonal fruit.

Tips for serving and storing:

• If you bake the cake but don’t plan on serving it right away, keep it well wrapped for a day or two.
• After topping the cake with cream cheese glaze, keep the cake refrigerated and bring to room temperature. Add the berries just before serving.
• The cake tastes amazing as is, but feel free to jazz up the batter with fresh lemon zest and/or a 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract or vanilla extract.
• Instead of berries and the glaze I used, you can decorate the cake with lightly sweetened sour cream or simply dusted with powdered sugar and sliced almonds.

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Best Ever Moist Almond Cake

Karen Tedesco

This is the best almond cake recipe! It 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.

Print SaveSaved

4.94 from 29 community reviews

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Desserts

Cuisine Baking

Servings 8 servings

Equipment

9-inch tart pan with removable bottom

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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
• ▢ 4 room temperature eggs, lightly beaten
• ▢ 1 7-ounce (212 g) tube almond paste, crumbled into small pieces
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups (275 g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Topping

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

US Customary – Metric

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Instructions 

Cake

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
• Pulse the almond paste in a food processor until it’s broken into even pieces. Add the sugar and process for 30 seconds, until the mixture appears fine and sandy textured.
• Add the butter and process for a full 2 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the workbowl if necessary.
• With the machine running, slowly dribble in the egg. You want the mixture to emulsify and become thick, blended and creamy.
• 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.
• 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.
• Cool the cake 20 minutes, then release the sides of the pan and cool completely on a rack.

Make the topping

• Beat the cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer on medium speed with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add the salt and sugar and beat until creamy. Refrigerate until it's time to serve the cake.
• Spread the topping over the cake and decorate the top of the cake with the berries. Serve.

Karen’s Notes and Tips

• 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 (no icing) cake 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

Calories: 425kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 423mg | Potassium: 109mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 61g | Vitamin A: 470IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 1mg

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

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Hey, I’m Karen

Creator of Familystyle Food

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I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.