🌰🍰 Looking for a delicious homemade almond cake with a family story behind it? Grandma Sita’s almond cake is a simple, comforting bake made with classic ingredients including almonds, eggs, milk and butter. With its lovely almond flavour and homemade texture, it is the kind of traditional cake that feels right at home on the family table.
👩🍳💚 Family recipes are at the heart of Grandma Sita’s kitchen. Passed down from one generation to the next, they carry memories, traditions and those little personal touches that make each recipe special. This almond cake is a wonderful example of how simple ingredients can come together to create something everyone wants to share.
👵👧 Tere, her granddaughter Eugenia and Grandma Sita come together to bake this much-loved family favourite. As part of A Grandchild in My Kitchen, they share the joy of cooking together, bringing generations around the same recipe and creating new memories along the way.
😋🌰 Almonds give this homemade cake a deliciously nutty flavour and a wonderfully comforting character. Enjoy a slice with a cup of tea or coffee, serve it as a simple dessert, or bring it along when family and friends get together.
♻️ And, of course, Grandma Sita believes in making the most of what we have. Before buying something new, have a look in your cupboard and fridge — you may already have ingredients waiting to become something delicious. So, gather your ingredients, preheat the oven and bake this delicious almond cake — a simple family favourite, made the Grandma Sita way!
- INGREDIENTS
For the cake
100 g sugar
100 g plain flour
2 medium eggs
1 teaspoon butter
3 tablespoons milk
For the almond toping
125 g butter
100 g sugar
150 g almonds (75 g flaked almonds and 75 g ground almonds)
3 tablespoons milk
🌱 Want to make this cake plant-based? Replace the milk with an unsweetened plant-based drink, such as oat or soya drink, and use vegan butter or plant-based margarine instead of butter. You can also replace the eggs with fruit jam, following Grandma Sita’s plant-based baking method used in her vegan carrot cake. Choose a jam with a flavour that complements the almonds, such as apricot, raspberry or another fruit jam you already have at home.
- METHOD
1. Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a round cake tin with baking parchment.
2. Prepare the egg yolks. Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a large mixing bowl and the whites in a separate clean bowl. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light and creamy.
3. Add the remaining ingredients. Add the milk, flour and butter to the egg yolk mixture. Stir well with a spatula until everything is combined.
4. Whisk the egg whites. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the cake mixture using a spatula. Take care not to overmix, as you want to keep as much air in the mixture as possible.
5. Fill the tin. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared round cake tin and gently smooth the surface with a spatula.
6. Bake the cake. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. Cool and enjoy. Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin for a few minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool further. A simple family recipe, a few classic ingredients and generations cooking together — the Grandma Sita way!
👵💛 Grandma Sita’s Tips
- 🌰 Use both types of almonds: Ground almonds add richness and a lovely soft texture, while flaked almonds give the topping a delicious crunch. Both are commonly used in British baking.
- 🧈 Bring the ingredients to room temperature: If possible, take the eggs, butter and milk out of the fridge a little before baking. Ingredients at a similar temperature are generally easier to combine into a smooth cake mixture.
- 🥚 Be gentle with the egg whites: Whisk them until stiff peaks form, then fold them gently into the mixture. This helps keep the cake light and airy.
- 🧈 Keep an eye on the topping: If the almonds start to brown too quickly while the cake is still baking, loosely cover the top with baking parchment or foil.
- 🍰 Let the cake cool: Leave it to cool before slicing so the crumb can settle and the almond topping stays nicely in place.
- 🫙 Store it well: Once completely cool, keep the cake in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy it while it is fresh. Almond cakes can also be frozen in individual portions if you want to save some for another day. Almond-based cakes are commonly suitable for freezing, depending on the recipe.
📗 Did you know?
🌰 Almonds are wonderfully versatile in baking. Ground almonds can add moisture, richness and a soft texture to cakes, while flaked almonds are often used to create a golden, crunchy topping. Both are popular ingredients in British baking.
Almond cakes come in many different forms. From simple homemade cakes to fruit and almond bakes, almonds have long been a popular ingredient in cakes and desserts. They can be used in the batter, folded through the mixture or scattered over the top for extra texture.
👵👧 Family recipes are made to evolve. A recipe passed from one generation to another can pick up little changes along the way — a different way of mixing, a favourite ingredient or a special family tip. That is part of what makes family baking so special.
🗑️ A little food-waste fact
🌰 Make the most of your almonds: If you have a packet of ground or flaked almonds left over after making this cake, don’t leave them forgotten at the back of the cupboard. Use them in biscuits, porridge, granola, crumble toppings or other cakes.
🥛 Use up leftover milk: Have a little milk left in the fridge? Don’t let it go to waste. Use it in another bake, porridge, pancakes, sauces or a cup of tea, as long as it is still fresh and safe to use.
🍰 And don’t worry about imperfect slices: If the cake doesn’t cut perfectly or a little of the topping breaks away, save those pieces. Crumble them over yoghurt, fruit or ice cream for a simple homemade dessert.
♻️ Give your ingredients a second life
🌎 For Grandma Sita, good cooking is about making the most of what we already have. Tere’s family almond cake is a lovely reminder that simple ingredients, shared traditions and a little imagination can bring generations together. Bake, share and waste less — the Grandma Sita way!