Almond Joy Cake
My husband and I are spending the weekend in Houma, Louisiana visiting with his sister and her boyfriend. Her birthday is next month and I doubt we see her for her birthday, so I decided to bring her a cake early. I couldn't figure out what kind of cake to make her but i knew she, like me, was okay with anything chocolate. I asked Ronnie what he thought and he said he had no clue but her favorite candy bar was Almond Joy. I was so excited! I have had an idea in my head for months for an Almond Joy Cake and had yet to try it. This was the perfect opportunity!! She was sooo excited when she found out!! I had plans to decorate it using my new "skills" from the cake decorating class, but long story short...time got away from me. (Meaning my husband was rushing me out the door!) All in all, I was very happy with the results.
How can you go wrong with a moist Chocolate Cake with Almond Joy filling, covered in chocolate ganache and sprinkled with sliced almonds? I'll tell you....you CAN"T!!These pictures do NOT do it justice. I have better ones on my Facebbok account and on my cell phone but getting them here is quite the task. I just got a new touch phone the day we left and am still figuring it out. I started to wait to post this but I chose not to for a few reasons: 1)I was anxious to share it with you. 2) So many people seemed to be excited about this cake when i uploaded it to facebook. I will replace these pictures with better ones later. For now....I am going to share this recipe with you and beg you to try it!!!! This cake will change your life forever. Maybe this is taking it too far, but you get the idea! This is by far, the BEST CAKE I HAVE EVER MADE! You won't be dissapointed. I promise....if you disagree i will refund the money for your ingredients!
Almond Joy Cake
For the cake:
1 ¾ c. flour
2 c. sugar
¾ c. cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. coffee
1 c. buttermilk
½ c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
Preheat the oven to 350 degres. Spray two 9-inch pans with Baker's Joy cooking spray. Mix all ingredients together and divide between prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes.
For the Almond Joy Filling:
2 (16-ounce) boxes confectioners' sugar Cream together sugar and butter in a bowl; add milk. Stir in almond extract, coconut, and mix well.
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 (14-ounce) package shredded coconut
For the Ganache:
2 C. (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 c. heavy whipping cream
2 T. sugar
Originally, I had intentions of using a Chocolate Buttercream frosting on the cake. I decided a Ganache would make it taste more like an Almond Joy Bar and give it that same texture. When ganache sets it gets a little crispy like the candy bar! But like I said, you can;t go wrong with this cake!
