Chocolate Marzipan Cake

I make cakes each month to celebrate those in the library with birthdays and it is really fun to pick a new cake each time. This recipe I have had pinned forever; it was one of the first things that I ever pinned on Pinterest. I had bought marzipan at Ikea some time ago; it’s super cheap there! I made this when we had a lot of other sweets around work so I decided to go for a cake that wasn’t as elaborate. This cake fit the bill perfectly.

This cake has very little flour, so it is a dense rich cake. It has a lovely almond flavor, thanks to the marzipan. It doesn’t rise all that much; I had hoped to slice the cake into two layers, but it was just best to leave it at as one layer. Since I made it one night and took it to work the next day, I decided to make stabilized whipped cream. That’s just regular whipped cream with some unflavored gelatin added in.

I frosted this cake and it looked so plain, so I added a little chocolate drizzle to spice it up a bit. It would have tasted just fine without it, but it did make the cake look a lot better. It was a big hit at work, not too sweet but with excellent flavor. The cake is very mousse-like, super smooth and quite decadent. The whipped cream is the perfect topping; any other frosting would be too sweet. I was worried that a single layer cake would work for all of us at work, but a little goes a long way!

Chocolate Marzipan Cake

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

9 ounces marzipan

6 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

¼ cup cold water

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10 inch springform pan.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Break the marzipan into pieces and gradually add to the butter mixture, beating until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and almond extract.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture with the mixer running on low. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a thin knife inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes then remove the sides of the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the whipped cream: in a small bowl combine the water and gelatin. Stir to combine and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Microwave the mixture for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until the gelatin is dissolved. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, but no more; the mixture must still be liquid when added to the cream.

Add the cream and powdered sugar to a large mixer bowl and beat with the whisk attachment. Once the cream has thickened enough so that you see the tracks the beaters make, add the cooled gelatin mixture and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

Frost the cooled cake with the whipped cream and finish with a chocolate sauce drizzle, if desired.

Recipe from What She’s Having