THE CAKE WHICH GETS YOU WHAT YOU WANT....ANYTHING!

...the moistest Almond Expresso Cake with Coffee Butter Icing

Life is just too short to go without the occasional EXCELLENT cake. 

This desperate anglo housewife has discovered how to get what she wants..call it manipulation if you will.

This cake has my french husband rolling on his back, all paws in the air, begging for more.

Everytime.

Naughty naughty naughty!

As my late mother used to say, if you are going to eat cake you might as well eat CAKE!

This recipe is the "real monty" of wicked cakes. Its beauty is the low amount of flour ( good for low carbers..ha!), ground almonds and real expresso shots balanced against sweet almond.

Moistest Almond and Expresso Cake with Coffee Butter Icing

180 gr butter, softened

180 gr castor sugar

3 large free range eggs ( the bigger the better!)

1  teaspoon good quality natural sweet almond essence

Double ristretto shots, equiv 6 tablespoons ( needs to be tight and strong!)

100 gr flour

2 teaspoons baking powder ( 1 sachet in France)

100 gr ground almonds

for the icing :

50 - 60 gr butter softened

1 cup sifted icing sugar

1 teaspoon high grade natural coffee essence

Pre heat oven 150°.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add in eggs one by one and incorporate until smooth texture.

Add sweet almond essence.

Add almonds and half the expresso.

Sift in flour and baking powder. Mix well but with a light hand ( that was my mother speaking!!)

Incorporate the remaining expresso.

Put into buttered and floured 20cms baking tin and bake 50  - 60 mins.

Remove from tin when completely cold.

For the icing simply soften butter, whip it up with icing sugar and essence and spread over cake with a warmed spatula. 

It is not a huge amount of icing but just the right measure to compliment cake. More icing would dretract from the almond/expresso fragrances...

Enjoy!!