Amandin

Amandin - A Superb Orange and Almond Flavored Cake

Doesn't that look pretty!? Not only that, but this happens to be one of the few posts that I can actually tell you how it tastes too! Since I know you're wondering, I'll tell you! "Awesome".

Never heard of an amandin before? No worries! Neither had I. I was venturing for recipes with orange in Pierre Hermé's "Le Larousse des Desserts" this morning and this one happened to appear, fortunately. Seeing that it had a small selection of ingredients, virtually no butter and a reasonable amount of sugar, I was set on baking this.

So, what does it taste like? Would this be right for you? I'm actually rather bad at giving descriptions; however, since I have actually tried it before posting, I'll do my best to help you out!! The amandin is a moist, lightly sweet orange and almond dependent cake that is not too dense and not too light. For me, the density was just right. The texture is very smooth and the cake is held together rather well, so you don't need to worry about finding that elusive steak knife or taking a bath in cake crumbs by the time you finish. This is definitely something that I'd like to make again.

What are the ingredients and how is it made? Well, let me tell you!! (Taken and adapted from Pierre Hermé's "Le Larousse des Desserts")

Mango Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake: Carrots? Yes. Cream Cheese Icing? Yes. Mangoes? Hmm...

A mango carrot cake, you say?

Yes, that is indeed what we have! I thought that it was an interesting spin off of the traditional carrot cake and I wanted to give it a try. (Adapted from a Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) issue from earlier this year and it seems that they have a video?)

When I bake, I do my best to work from scratch, so even though this recipe called for some brand named mango juice, I went ahead and made some instead. Mangoes are rather foreign to me, so I found this to be an interesting exercise. In addition, QC prefers to purchase produce at the local farmer's market, so I went ahead and sent her on a mission to retrieve some mangoes and carrots. Should baking from scratch, reducing sugar/fat, and buying local produce feel this righteous...? Don't worry. The topics of capitalism, organic and raw food diets don't have their place on this blog.