Oatalmond Cakes With Cream Cheese And Spreadable Fruit Food

FRUITCAKE LOAF CAKE

Steps:

• Cut the cherries into quarters and mix together with the raisins and mixed fruit (or glacé citrus peel). Measure the cherries AFTER they are quartered. In the cake pictured, I have used a mixture of half red and half green glacé cherries for the most colourful appearance.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Lightly grease a 9x5 inch standard loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
• Measure the flour, then remove 2 tbsp to dust the fruit with later.
• Sift the remaining flour with the baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Cream together butter, sugar and cream cheese, until smooth and fluffy,
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Next, beat in the vanilla extract (and almond extract if you are using it.)
• Fold in the dry ingredients until almost fully incorporated. A few streaks of flour in the batter should remain at this point.
• Toss the fruit mixture with the reserved 2 tbsp flour.
• Add the flour coated fruit to the batter and fold in well.
• Spread batter evenly into the prepared loaf pan.
• Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. My oven actually took closer to 1 1/2 hours.
• Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container. If freezing, wrap tightly in several layers of plastic wrap before placing it in a large ziplock freezer bag, removing as much air from the bag as you can before sealing it.

ALMOND-CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F Spray fixed-bottom 9 1/2- or 10-inch tube pan with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment paper; spray paper.
• Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and cream cheese in large bowl at medium speed until combined. Beat in sugar 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs in 3 parts, beating well after each addition. At low speed, beat in almond extract and vanilla until blended. Slowly beat in flour mixture just until incorporated. Spoon batter into pan; sprinkle with almonds, pressing gently into batter.
• Bake 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 20 minutes. Run small knife around edges and tube; invert cake onto wire rack. Remove parchment paper; turn almond-side up. Cool completely. (Cake can be made 3 days ahead.) Store at room temperature.

CREAM CHEESE ALMOND COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Spray a 9 x 13 cake pan.
• Cream butter, sugar and cream cheese very well until smooth.
• Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down as needed add vanilla and mix inches.
• Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with milk.
• Stir in cherries.
• Spread into cake pan, smooth top Mix topping ingredients (excluding almonds) together.
• Sprinkle almonds then topping over batter.
• Press lightly.
• Bake until tests done.

CREAM CHEESE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• To make the fruit & nut mix, chop up an assortment of dried fruits and nuts of your choice. Typically, my mom uses raisins, pineapple, papaya, green & red glacé cherries, and pecans. Smaller dried fruits like raisins don't need to be cut, but dice up the other fruits and the nuts. Now measure out 3 cups worth of the mixture and mix it up with the remaining 1/2 cup of flour (this is done so that the fruits and nuts won't all sink to the bottom of your cake when baking).
• Preheat the oven to 325°F
• Cream the butter and sugar together. Mix in the cream cheese.
• Add the eggs in one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.
• In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients: 2 cups flour, the baking powder, and the salt.
• Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients; the batter will be quite thick.
• When barely any streaks remain, mix in the flour-covered fruit & nut mix. Only on few strokes of your spatula are needed; do not overmix.
• Spray a loaf pan (9x5 in) with nonstick spray and line the bottom of the pan with a rectangle of parchment paper.
• Scrape your batter into the loaf pan, smoothing the top.
• Place in the oven and let bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
• If near the end of baking, the inside of the cake is still wet but the top is browning too quickly, cover the top with a sheet of foil.
• Let your cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooking.