Toscakaka, swedish caramel almond cake

"Big, would you like a good cake?" That's what baby pig said.. a good cake ^^

Toscakaka, swedish caramel almond cake (recipe posted by poiresauchocolat, adapted from Scandilicious Baking)

Cake
70ml milk + 1 tsp lemon juice (= 75ml buttermilk)
3 eggs
150g caster sugar (I used 120g ^^)
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder, sifted
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
75g unsalted butter, melted

Topping
150g flaked almonds, preferably lightly toasted
125g butter
125g light brown sugar (I used 100g ^^)
50ml milk (I ran out of milk and used cream instead, no problem ^^)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp espresso powder (optional, or replace with vanilla)

1. Cake: Whip eggs, caster sugar and vanilla extract on medium high for 5 minutes till mixture is very thick. Fold in 1/3 sifted flour+baking powder+salt into egg mixture gently using a big spatula. Drizzle and mix in 1/2 the buttermilk. Repeat with the next 1/3 flour+baking powder, the rest of the milk, then the rest of the flour. Finally drizzle half the melted butter and fold in GENTLY. Repeat with the remaining butter, folding GENTLY and scraping the bottom to ensure mixture is well combined. Pour into a lined 8-9" removable bottom round tin (I lined an 8" round tin with a big piece of aluminium foil for easy removal ^^) and tap on the counter once to remove air bubbles. Bake in a preheated oven of 160C/320F for 25-30 minutes or till golden and set.

2. Topping: Put toasted almonds, butter, sugar, milk, salt and espresso powder (or vanilla) into a saucepan over medium heat and stir as the butter melts. Let it bubble and thicken slightly before removing from heat. Pour almonds over baked cake and spread evenly. Turn oven up to 200C/390F and place cake topped with almonds in. Bake for 8-10 minutes till the topping is browned and bubbling. Remove to cool. Best served when cake is cooled to room temperature.

When I read about this cake in poiresauchocolat (thank you! ^^), I just knew this was going to be a delicious bake! But I was distracted by her mention of chez panisse almond tart, and made that first instead ^^ And so, I can now tell you how very alike both the almond toppings are ~ VERY VERY VERY DEEEELICIOUS! ^^

And if you must know, chez panisse almond tart beats toscakaka by just a whisker in my opinion, because of the amazing perfect tart crust.. and perhaps because I messed up a little on the toscakaka sponge cake too, oops.. ^^