Almond Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

I live in a small town south of Indianspolis and around here Memorial Day is synonymous with the Indianapolis 500!  Today is the 100th running of this great race!  So if you are a Hoosier, you are likely to be invited to a race party like the one we attended yesterday.  There are activities from formal balls to simple backyard BBQ's & everything in between! We went to a potluck BBQ full of saucy ribs and yummy salads.  My sister brought her great pasta salad which I wrote about last year in the entry about All Week Pasta Salad.  My mother brought a cold dessert that she calls "Robert Redford or Better than Sex".  I will post that recipe when I can get a copy from her.  She is making a snickers pie for tomorrow's picnic so I'm thinking I will do a post on summer desserts!

As it happens many times, I surfed through Pinterest for inspiration.  I found a great recipe by Brown Sugar which I tweaked a bit to make it super moist and tender!  I sifted all the dry ingredients before mixing which gives you a higher rising cake and I also cut back the sour cream.  This recipe was really quick and easy to make.  The frosting recipe makes more than enough and my sons enjoyed the sweet leftovers!  I hope the next time you need to take a dish to a picnic or BBQ, you give this cake a try!

Almond Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter

1 cup water

2 cups cake flour

2 cups sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp almond extract

Frosting:

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa powder, Sifted

1/2 cup Milk

4 tbsp Butter

2 tbsp Light Corn Syrup

4 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted

2 tspVanilla Extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375*F.  Grease and flour a 9x13 glass dish and set aside. In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.  In a large saucepan, add the water and butter which should be cut into small cubes to allow even melting. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil and stir frequently.  Remove from the heat when the butter is completely melted.  Add the warm butter mixture to a mixing bowl. With your mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture, sour cream, sugar and eggs.  When the batter is thoroughly mixed, add the teaspoon of almond extract and mix the batter until all is combined.  Pour the mixture into the prepared 9x13 dish.  Gently tap the dish on the counter a few times to have any sir rise to the top.  Place the cake in the preheated oven and bake for 20-24 minutes.  Test the cake with a toothpick or small fork poked in the middle.  If the utensil comes out clean then the cake is ready to leave the oven.  Let cool for an hour before frosting. 

When the cake is ready for the frosting, combine the sugar and cocoa in a saucepan.  Whisk in the milk, butter and corn syrup.  Place the sauce pan over medium heat and stir continuously until the butter is melted and the chocolate mixture looks smooth.  Remove from the heat and slowly stir in the sifted powdere sugar.  When all the powdered sugar is combined, spread mixture quickly over the cake.  Let the frosting cool before serving.  Enjoy!