Tosca Cake is something I used to find a French bakery here and have seen it in other places around the world. In its simplest form is an almond cake with a crispy, syrupy sliced almond topping. I always rather thought it was a secret type of super complicated recipe that only trained pastry chefs could execute so never really had it on my home cooking radar. It always looked so pretty with its shingled almonds and shiny top, cut into perfect slices and sold in those frilly little bakery cases. But the advent of Pinterest showed me that it’s not that at all and can be made easily at home. And I learned that it is a Swedish recipe (or at least Scandinavian), not French, and popular with home cooks. Whatever the case, it is lovely and completely worth adding to a repertoire.
I love summer’s juicy blueberries with almond, so I figured that would be a perfect combination. Sweet marzipan makes the cake soft and almost fudgy, with those bright pops of blueberry and a nice hit of vanilla. Use marzipan, not almond paste, as marzipan is sweetened. You will find it in the baking aisle sold in rolls next to the almond paste. The almond syrup poured over the top takes on a caramelized, crispy edge that is such a fantastic contrast. This cake is really best served the day it as made, as the topping will lose it’s crunch after sitting too long (but I am no saying leftovers aren’t delicious). A scoop of vanilla ice cream is a nice touch, but a dollop of crème fraiche is a real treat, setting off the sweetness of the cake with a nice tang.
Ingredients
- For the Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
7 ounces marzipan
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
¾ cup plus 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/3 c fresh blueberries
- For the Topping
½ cup salted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup sliced almonds
Directions
- For the Cake
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8 by 11 baking dish with baking spray such as Bakers Joy.
- Grate marzipan on the large holes of a grater into the bowl of a stand mixer. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the bowl, then beat on medium high to combined. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl after each addition. Beat in the cream. Add the ¾ cup flour and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Toss the blueberries with the remaining Tablespoon of flour and add to the batter. Give it a couple of turns on low with the mixer to break up some berries, then use a spatula to evenly distribute them through the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread the top to an even surface.
- For the Topping
- Put the butter, sugar, cream, corn syrup and flour in a medium saucepan and place over medium high heat. Stir frequently until the butter and sugar are melted, then stir in the almonds. Cook, stirring constantly and scraping the sides of the pot until the mixture is thick and just starting to turn a light caramel brown. Pour the topping as evenly as you can over the batter, using a spatula to gently spread it to cover most of the top. You don’t have to be precious about this – some exposed batter is fine – and you don’t want to disturb the cake layer too much. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes until a tester inserted in the center has just a few crumbs clinging to it and the top is a caramelized golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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