Almond Cake with White Chocolate and Peanut Butter Glaze

I am quite a fanatic when it comes to collecting recipes. I collect recipes from just about everywhere. I have papers and pens residing in all corners of my house. Beside the TV, next to the newspaper/magazine stand and where have you. And this apart, thankfully there are celebrity chefs, fellow food bloggers and the family secrets.

I go through my recipe folder almost everyday, mostly to decide what to cook the following day. A few days back I realised that my collection has crossed the 5,000 mark, of which, 850 are desserts alone! Now there’s no escaping from making all of that. That is non-negotiable. But time indeed is a huge factor. A colleague of mine suggested I make a dessert everyday. But in so doing diabetes will catch up with me in no time and I won’t live long enough to make all 850 (the number of which will steadily go up by leaps and bounds, I’m sure). So after a long process of deliberation I decided upon my A dessert a week motto. That makes it 52 desserts a year. If you include birthdays and other special occasions it comes to roughly 60-65. So 65 desserts a year would mean 13 years to fulfil my present target. Whoa! Anyway, baby steps. So here I go.

Funnily enough, we are in the 10^th week of the year and records say that I have made exactly 9 desserts in the last 9 weeks. Not bad, I say!

Almond Cake recipe inspired by Baking Bites.

Serves: 12 pieces
Ingredients:

For Cake:

Flour: 150 gm
Almond flour (which is nothing but ground almonds): 150 gm
Sugar: 120 gm
Baking powder: 2 tsp
Salt: ¼ tsp
Eggs: 3
Milk: 50 ml
Butter, melted and cooled: 100 gm
Olive oil: 40 ml
Vanilla extract: 1 1/2 tsp

For frosting:
White chocolate: 100 gm
Peanut butter: 100 gm
Double Cream: 100 gm

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Lightly grease a round cake pan and line the base with baking parchment.

2. In blender, combine sifted flour, almond flour and sugar. Add baking powder and salt and pulse to combine.

3. Add eggs, milk, melted butter, oil  and process until cake batter is smooth and all the ingredients have been incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 30-32 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then on the wire rack for 30 minutes.

5. As the cake cools, start with the frosting. Melt the white chocolate chunks and peanut butter on a double boiler on low heat until smooth and luscious.

6. Now take the melted icing off the heat and slowly add the cream and fold gently.

7. Once the cake is cooled, spread the ganache evenly on top of the cake and the sides. Finish with some white chocolate shavings.

8. Refrigerate for two hours to allow the frosting to set. Cut into huge slices and serve with coffee.