Maple Syrup Cake with Toasted Almonds has all of the flavors of autumn. A little cinnamon, toasted nuts, and the sweet flavor of maple syrup form the seasonal medley. With maple syrup icing, the cake is complete.
By Kristin Rosenau
My Canadian roommate introduced me to maple syrup when I first moved to Montreal. You’ve never tried real maple syrup before? We need to fix that. She poured a little on a spoon, handed it over, and my love for the sticky sweetener began. In the past, I drowned my pancakes and waffles in Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth’s, but pure maple syrup would be my future. 
In Canada, maple syrup is considered a standard commodity and is sold in 15 oz cans, perfect for stacking away in the cupboard. When I moved back to the United States, I tucked a stack of cans of maple syrup in my suitcase. Some were for gifts, but most were for myself. After leaving the land of maple syrup festivals, I thought it best to pack away as much as I could before the only syrup I could get my hands on would come in small, maple leaf-shaped containers.
This Maple Syrup Cake comes from Linda Lomelino’s newly translated cookbook Lomelino’s Cakes: 27 Pretty Cakes to Make Any Day Special. I have been an admirer of Linda’s blog Call Me Cupcake since I began blogging over four years ago. Her first cookbook was published in 2012, written in Swedish, her native tongue. I have anxiously awaited the day it would be translated into English. Her love of cake is pure and shines through in the way she creatively layers and decorates her desserts.
I ever so slightly adapted this recipe from her cookbook to suit the ingredients in my cupboards, substituting the almonds for pecans, and using brown sugar instead of muscovado. The maple flavor comes through so beautifully that I had a hard time leaving the cake along long enough to frost it.
The cake recipe is written for 6-inch pans, but, since they can be difficult to come by, a larger pan could be used instead to make a single layer cake.
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Almond and Maple Syrup Spice Cake
- Yield: Yields 6-inch 3-layer cake (or 1 layer 9 inch cake) 1x
Description
This cake has all the flavors of cooler weather. A little cinnamon, toasted nuts, and sweet maple syrup form the medley completed with maple icing.
Ingredients
Maple Syrup Cake
- 3/4 cup (106 grams) whole almonds (or pecans)
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar, loosely packed
- 6 tablespoons (60 grams) maple syrup
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/4 cups (156 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (177 ml) milk
Maple Syrup Frosting (yields about 2 cups)
- 3 large egg whites
- 6 tablespoons (76 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, not packed
- 4 tablespoons (40 grams) maple syrup
- 3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
Instructions
Maple Syrup Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease three 6-inch cake pans. Set aside.
- Spread the almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes in the oven. Place in a food processor and process until the nuts resemble a coarse flour, about 1-3 minutes. Do not overprocess. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the maple syrup and beat until smooth. Add the egg and completely incorporate it into the batter. Gradually add the flour, baking powder, spices, salt, and finely processed almonds. Stir in the milk until the batter is smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool the layers in the pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Maple Syrup Frosting
- Place the egg whites and sugars into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmer water (or a double boiler). Use a whisk to beat the mixture until it reaches 150 degrees F (65 degrees C), or until the sugar crystals have dissolved and do not feel grainy when rubbed between your fingers. Remove from heat and add the maple syrup.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the meringue until the mixture is cool and thick and forms glossy, stiff peaks, about 5-7 minutes. Add room temperature butter a small amount at a time. Continue beating frosting 3-5 minutes after all butter has been added.
To Assemble
- Place first layer on a serving plate. Spoon frosting into a pastry bag. Using a star tip, pipe circles around the top of the cake, beginning at the outer edge and working inward. It’s easier to see what you are doing if you start at the outer edge. If you want the cake to be higher, pipe an extra circle around the outer edge, on top of the previous circle of frosting.
- Place next layer on top and repeat the piped circles. Place the last layer on top, cut side down, and leave the exterior unfrosted. Garnish with gold sprinkles, if desired.
- Category: Baking, Dessert
A friend asked me to make something with almonds and maple syrup for dessert, and I came across this recipe. My cakes were delicious — a little thin, as I used 9″ pans, but the flavor was great. My frosting, however, was a mess. It was the consistency of melted ice cream, despite the fact that my meringue was gorgeous. It went bad as soon as I started adding the butter. Where did I go wrong?
The good news is that I was able to thicken the frosting enough to still use it and it soaked into the cake a little, which was great as it was a teeeeensy dry to begin with. Overall, we thought the cake was delicious, but I would love to work out whatever kink resulted in soupy frosting.
Hi there, I have found that with meringue frostings they often break before they come together if the two components are of a different temperature. I either just keep whipping it and it will emulsify eventually or place the soupy/broken frosting in the fridge so it can come to the same temperature and then whip it again to bring it together so it is nice and fluffy. Happy baking!
Thank you so much for your response! My father-in-law ended up loving this cake more than any other cake ever, so I’m making it again today for him. I’ll try your tips for getting the frosting to hold up. Thanks again for taking the time to respond!
Do you think this recipe would work with Almond flour instead of regular all purpose flour?