Sliced Almond Mini Recipes

EASY ALMOND SLICE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200/220 fan/425/gas 7. Grease a baking tin that measures roughly 8" or 20cm squared.
• Cream the butter and sugar together.
• Stir in half the beaten eggs and half the flour. Mix well.
• Add the remaining egg, flour and the baking powder. Lastly, add the ground almonds and a splash of milk to make the mixture soft.
• Spread out evenly in the greased tin and top with the flaked almonds.Press them down gently with the back of a fork.
• Pop in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

PUMPKIN ALMOND MINI MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray 36 mini muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
• Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, ginger, cloves, and allspice together in a bowl. Beat white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract together in a separate bowl using an electric mixer until well blended; beat in pumpkin and coconut oil until just combined.
• Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until batter is well mixed. Pour batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling 1/4-inch from the top; sprinkle with almond slices.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean, about 11 minutes. Cool muffins in the pans for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool muffins for 5 minutes on rack; sift confectioners' sugar over muffins.

SIMPLE ALMOND SLICE RECIPE

Steps:

• First you need to mix the flour and the cold butter together for the pastry. If you have a mixer you can use that to mix the flour and butter. If not, put the flour in a bowl and then cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender, two butter knives, or rub with fingertips to create a breadcrumb-like texture.
• Add the caster sugar and stir through.
• Next, slowly add the tablespoons of water and stir it with a butterknife to bring it together. How much water you need depends on the flour so we suggest starting with 2-3 tablespoons and then adding more as needed.
• Tip out the pastry onto a floured surface and gently bring together the pastry with your hands. Try not to knead it and handle it as little as possible. Then cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 15 minutes. It can last up to 2 days if you want to make it in advance.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C or 350F.
• Lightly grease the tin with butter, taking care not to add too much. You want to grease rather than using baking paper to line it. The pastry has enough butter not to stick but you want to ensure the sides of the sponge don't stick.
• Take the pastry from the fridge and roll it out on a floured surface until it is about 0.5cm (1/4 of an inch) thick. You want the shape to roughly fit your tin. Carefully lift the pastry and press into the bottom of the tin, cutting any excess so it's only covering the bottom and not stretching up the slides.
• Prick the pastry with a fork, place baking paper over it and blind baking beans, or uncooked rice if you don't have any.
• Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
• Meanwhile, loosen up the jam by stirring it in a bowl so it'll be easy to spread onto the pastry. We used approximately 200g or 8 tablespoons but you may want a little more or less. Be generous! The jam layer really adds to the flavour.
• Remove the pastry from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then add the jam layer. Set aside.
• Cream the butter and the sugar for the sponge in a large bowl.
• Add the essence if using, and beat in the eggs.
• Add the flour, baking powder, and ground almond and gently mix together.
• Pour or spoon over the jam-covered pastry, trying not to disturb your jam layer too much.
• Top with a handful of flaked almonds (not toasted) and then put in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Keep checking it and once the sponge layer has risen and cooked through it's ready!
• Take out an allow to cool, before removing from the tin to slice it, or slice in the tin and remove individual pieces if you find the easier.

GLAZED ALMOND MINI CAKES

Steps:

• Set an oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease the bottom of an 8-by-12 inch metal baking pan and line the bottom with parchment. Then grease and flour the bottom and sides of the pan. Set aside.
• For the cake: sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the salt and stir to combine.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add 1 cup of butter and sugar and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, as needed. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating on medium speed and scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat to combine. On low speed, mix in half of the flour mixture, then mix in the milk. Mix in remaining flour mixture until just combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until a tester comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool slightly, then unmold and cool completely.
• To make the cake filling, using a serrated knife, cut the cake into an 8x8-inch square. Set aside. Crumble the portion of the cake that was removed and reserve 2 1/2 cups. Add the remainder of the cake crumbs to a large mixing bowl along with the remaining 1/4 cup melted butter, jam and almonds. Mix well (your hands are the best tool here) to make a spreadable filling.
• To assemble the cake, use a serrated knife to split the cake crosswise into 2 halves. Arrange both halves so they're facing cut-side up. Brush the cake with about 2/3 of the cooled almond syrup. With a small offset spatula, gently spread the jammy filling over the entire bottom half of the cake and top with the top half of the cake, cut side down. Press gently to adhere. Flip the cake so the flat bottom is now facing up, to create a flat top. Freeze the cake until firm, 1 hour.
• With a serrated knife, cut off the rough sides on the frozen cake and cut into 16 squares. Set the cake on a cooling rack over a parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Coat the cakes 1 at a time by pouring the icing around the edges and letting it drip down to coat the sides, then fill in the top. (Set the bowl over hot water and stir if it begins to thicken before you are done.) Top with sprinkles or non pareils before the icing begins to set.
• Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat and cook to dissolve the sugar, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the almond extract and stir to combine. Cool completely.
• Melt the chocolate chips or candy melts in a double boiler and stir until smooth.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the confectioner's sugar, corn syrup, hot water and vanilla. Mix on low speed until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and continue to mix to make a very smooth, pourable icing, about the consistency of molasses. Add food coloring as desired.