almond tea cake with lemon glaze
Forgive me for jumping ahead a season, but I find myself longing for spring. Perhaps it’s due to the new Ragdoll kitten I brought home a week ago today? Between chasing toys all over the house and much laughter over her antics, my heart has officially melted and I’m ready for bright and sunny days.
Enter this lovely tea cake, perfumed with almond paste and citrus. Each plush slice of golden cake is irresistible when kissed with tangy lemon glaze; alternately, serve with fresh whipped cream and berries for a light and flavorful treat with tea.
Almond Tea Cake with Lemon Glaze
- Yield: 1 loaf, 12 slices
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 7 ounces almond paste, cubed
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp Amaretto (or 1/8 tsp almond extract)
- 2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk, at room temperature
Glaze
- 6 Tbsp powdered sugar, sifted
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp lemon zest
- 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Place almond paste, sugar, and lemon zest in a food processor and pulse for 1 minute. Beat coconut oil and almond paste mixture in a large mixer bowl at medium speed until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; beat in Amaretto. Reduce speed to low and add half of flour mixture, beating just to combine. Add buttermilk, then finish with remaining flour mixture.
- Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top with an offset spatula. Bake for 55 minutes, until cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; carefully remove cake from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
- For the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, salt, lemon zest, and juice in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over cooled cake and let set before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
Nutrition
- Calories: 224
- Carbohydrates: 36
This looks like such a lovely tea cake! Love the almond paste and the Amaretto addition!
Marilena
This is gorgeous and I’m so in awe of how you make a loaf cake look so good in photos – it’s one of things I just CANNOT get right!!
I love anything that includes almond paste. This cake looks amazing. Pinned.
This cake looks just wonderful, Laura. I also can’t wait for the flavors of spring.
And oooh, your kitty is so cute!! I’m trying to get my parents to adopt a third shih-tzu… so far they’re not convinced 🙂
Thanks so much, Abby! Oh I do hope you can win them over :).
Isn’t lemon the most wonderful ingredient! Love this cake Laura, just divine!
Yes, I’m with you on jumping to Spring – can we get there already?! I love this cake, and the delicate flavors that you use. Lemon and almond sound amazing together. Definitely pinning!
What a darling kitty!! Latte! So perfect and so absolutely sweet. This dessert is so lovely too Laura. I’m a huge fan of almond paste and lemon together. I’m also so jealous of your lemon tree.. How wonderful must that be!
Oh, my gosh, Latte is adorable!! And this cake is spectacular, too—what a terrific flavor combo!
I’m about to fly west, just so I can play with Latte (and enjoy a few slices of cake, too!). 😀 Congrats on the adorable new addition!!
This cake is so pretty and it kind of remind me of spring! Love your styling!
Gorgeous…I want a slice. The end.
What an elegant cake! Love the combo of almond and lemon too – so aromatic!
Beautiful! I am an almond paste lover, as well. Will be trying this soon 🙂
Laura, I could just stare at your pictures all day, they are so gorgeous! And I am totally in love with your vintage cooling rack, I’ve been looking for one!
I will happily take any leftovers of this gorgeous bread off your hands (though I doubt you have even a crumb left :)! This will definitely chase the winter blues away!
Oh Laura! I’m not sure what I liked better the adorable kitten or the scrumptious Almond Tea Cake! A most delightful post!
OK, Latte is the cutest cat ever!!! and I don’t blame you for being ready for bright and sunny days . . this almond tea cake is gorgeous!!! and love the lemon glaze!! perfection! TGIF!
I love how you describe this…’plush’, ‘perfumed’, I can just smell and taste it now!
This looks amazing Laura and your description makes it a “must-try”!
This cake is gorgeous!! I would love this with my tea right now!
I love everything about this beautiful cake recipe! Bring on spring!
Oh, don’t even start me with Spring. I am so over -20C winters here. I want to jump into Spring right now. And this loaf is just a perfect teaser for better days to come.
Love! Both Latte the Ragdoll, and this tea cake! Such a sweet face your kitten has. Enjoy all those precious antics! I really like that you used almond paste, Amaretto and coconut oil in this recipe, Laura. Sublime. Already pinned, my friend. 🙂 And, I agree…bring on spring! xo
This is such a pretty cake! I love any cake with a nut base (hazelnut, macadamia, and particularly almond)… so yum 🙂
Latte already sounds so adorable 🙂 And this cake, oh my!!