Puerto Rican Almond Cake (English Recipe)

Puerto Rican Almond Cake Recipe (English Recipe)

 This recipe is for the traditional Puerto Rican cake used for Birthdays, Weddings, Anniversaries, and just about every occasion. This delicious Soaked Puerto Rican Cake is also known as Bizcocho Mojadito. Smooth Spongey texture soaked in a delicious Almond Vanilla Syrup!

 

 Ready In: 1hr 10mins

Yields: 2 cake layers

Serves:10-14

 

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

3 cups self-rising Cake Flour (Presto Brand)
1 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (3 sticks)
2 cups Granulated Sugar
6 Eggs (separated)      
1 can of Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoon Almond Extract
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
¼ teaspoon Cream of Tartar

 

 

CAKE DIRECTIONS:

 

1.     Preheat the oven to 350* Fahrenheit.

2.     Using a mixer on med-high to high-speed cream together the butter and sugar, until the butter has fluffed up and is pale cream in color.

3.     With the mixer now on medium speed slowly add the egg yolks one by one until each one is incorporated. Then add the flavoring extracts.

4.     Lower the mixer speed to low and alternately add the evaporated milk and alternate with the flour, ending with flour. Set it aside.

5.     In a separate bowl add the egg whites and cream of tartar then whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until they become thick peaks (almost compared to a thick cloud consistency).

6.     Now with a spatula gradually add some of those thickened egg whites to your cake batter and fold in. You want to fold them in as gently as possible, so you don’t deflate those egg whites.

7.     Grease your cake pans with baking spray.

8.     Pour your batter into your pans.

9.     Set them in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool down before adding your syrup.

SOAKING SYRUP INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Water

2 cups Granulated Sugar

1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

2 tablespoons Almond Extract

 

SOAKING SYRUP DIRECTIONS:

1.     Bring the water to a slight boil.

2.     Then carefully add sugar to the water and stir until it dissolves and becomes slightly thickened like syrup,

3.     Remove from heat. While still warm add the flavorings.

4.     Set aside and let cool. Once cooled it is ready to pour onto your cooled cake.

 

ALMOND BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

 

4lbs. Confectioners Sugar (Domino Brand)

2 cups High Ratio Shortening (Sweetex)

1 cup Unsalted European Butter

1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla Extract

2 tablespoons Pure Almond Extract

3 -6 tablespoons Water

ALMOND BUTTERCREAM DIRECTIONS:

1.    Sift powdered sugar 2-3 times. Set it aside.

2.    In a large mixing bowl cream, the butter until pale & creamy.

3.    Add the shortening to the butter and beat until incorporated and fluffy.

4.    Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat on low. Add a tablespoon of water in between adding the powdered sugar. You may need less or more water.

5.    Then add flavorings.

6.    Add water as needed to make a spreadable consistency.

 

NOTES:

You can replace the cake flour with self-rising all-purpose flour. Although cake flour makes a smoother cake crumb. You can also use regular cake flour, but you do need to add baking powder and salt to the recipe.

Make sure ingredients are at room temperature. This will help the ingredients emulsify and incorporate into each other.

You can replace evaporated milk with whole milk.

You can use flavor emulsions in place of the extracts. 

If you do not have the cream of tartar it is ok to omit but it does help the egg whites rise.

You can use pan grease or Bakers Joy Baking spray for your baking pans.

For the simple syrup mixture keep in mind it will still be a watery syrup and not thick like molasses. You don't want to completely evaporate the water from the syrup because it will not soak into the cake correctly.

Add the flavorings about 5 minutes after you've removed the syrup from the heat. This will help the alcohol from the extract or emulsions evaporate and give your syrup a smoother taste.

If you have a simple syrup bottle or soaking bottle use that to pour your syrup onto the cake.

The cake should be completely cooled before adding the syrup.

To ensure the syrup soaks the whole cake trim the tops of the cake and soak the top layer. You want to add the syrup in batches. In other words, add a little wait a few minutes, and add some more. This will allow the syrup to start working its way down into the cake. If you want to make sure the cake is fully soaked carefully turn it over onto the bottom side and your cake should be soaked onto the bottom layer. This step may take practice as you don't want the cake to be too soaked or not soaked enough. 

For the buttercream, I recommend you use Domino Powdered Sugar(also known as icing sugar). It is ok to use any powdered sugar that has the 10x mark on the packaging as this means it has been sifted 10 times! The more the powdered sugar is sifted the fewer clumps you will have to beat out of your buttercream.

If you can't get any Hi-Ratio Shortening use Crisco Shortening. I do however recommend the Hi-Ratio Shortening because it doesn't leave a greasy feeling on your palate. Also, it is meant to help your buttercream hold up in higher heat conditions. Another reason is that it emulsifies the ingredients better giving you a smoother and creamier buttercream.

If you can't get any European Style Butter, use unsalted butter sticks instead. I do recommend the European Style Butter because it has a higher fat content and helps with emulsifying the buttercream. It also gives it a rich and creamier taste! 

The amount of water you add to the buttercream can vary depending on many factors like the weather, etc. This buttercream may require practice to perfect but once you get it you will never want to settle for the traditional American-style buttercream.

Although this recipe calls for 6 eggs you can try it with 8 or even up to 12 eggs. Let me know what texture your cake gets with the number of eggs you decide to use.