Almond Streusel Bundt Cake

Almond Streusel Bundt Cake
Streusel :
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Mix together brown sugar, almonds, oats, in small bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until well blended. Set aside.
Variation to Streusel: add 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder and 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon.
Cake :
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup whole almonds, toasted
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup almond paste
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup milk
6 large egg whites, room temperature
Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter and flour 12 cup Bundt pan.
Mix flour and baking powder in small bowl. Finely grind almonds. Beat butter and almond paste in large bowl until blended. Beat in 1 1/3 cups sugar, a little at a time until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Mix in ground almonds, set aside.
In separate bowl beat whites until light and fluffy, to medium peaks. Add remaining 1/3 cup sugar, a little at a time and beat until stiff but not dry. Fold half the meringue into cake batter, then the other half. Place half of cake batter into prepared Bundt pan. Sprinkle streusel over. Spoon the remaining batter over streusel. Bake cake about 1 hour, until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan on rack 20 minutes. Turn out cake onto rack and cool completely. If you make the cake the day before serving, cover and let stand at room temperature.
Glaze :
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup whipping cream
a few drops almond extract
1/3 cup toasted sliced almonds, for topping
Stir powdered sugar, whipping cream and extract in small bowl until well blended. Drizzle glaze over cake, allowing excess to run down sides. Sprinkle cake with sliced almonds.
Variation to Glaze: add 1 tsp instant coffee powder
Throughout Abraham Lincoln’s political career, his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, would periodically bake for him the Todd family’s favorite cake, based on a recipe dating back to 1825. On first tasting it, Lincoln is reported to have said that this white almond cake was the “best I ever ate.” This is the original recipe.
Variation: Later someone added a coffee cinnamon layer to the cake and coffee to the glaze. Both renditions to this cake are absolutely wonderful! Granny said to try them both!
Shared by Granny’s Favorites Cookbooks aka The Deedol Collection