I made this cake for some old my oldest and dearest friends. Quite frankly, he is my oldest and dearest friend. Period. And his wife and I have developed a super close relationship too over the past decade. A rich friendship like this deserved a decadent cake. Since Mr. Friend is super in love with all things almond, I made this cake just for him (and for me and his wifey who will eat any kind of cake!). The jam on the inside is very subtle…it really simply compliments the cake and keeps it extra moist. This cake isn’t really about the jam…the jam is just a nice side-kick. I hope you share a piece with close friends too.
Shopping List
1 box of white cake mix
2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup of veggie oil
1 1/4 cups water
4 eggs
2 tablespoons almond extract, divided
1 1/2 cups strawberry jam
4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
3-4 splashes of milk
Slivered almonds to garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease (I use Pam) a 10 inch bundt pan
In mixing bowl, combine cake mix, puddings, oil, water and eggs with electric mixer. Stir in one tablespoon almond extract. Pour half of the batter into prepared pan, take your jam and spread it over the batter in the pan. Pour remaining half of the batter over jam and bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let cake rest on counter in pan 10 minutes. Then, invert cake onto serving plate to finish cooling.
To make the frosting, beat butter with powdered sugar and milk until creamy. Stir in almond extract. Spread on cooled cake and top with slivered almonds.
