About the Recipe
This tasty cake was totally improvised and a genuine Food Lab experiment. I used ingredients that are common among cakes and added a few goodies to make it different and special. Desserts are chemistry and one cannot stray too far off the beaten path. However, if you follow a few basic rules, you can invent your own cakes. Flour, sugar, oil, eggs and baking powder are the key ingredients.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups of granulated white sugar
1 cup of blanched almond flour
1 cup of almonds
1 cup of hazelnuts
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup of seedless raisins
½ cup of sweetened shredded coconut
1 ¼ cups of 2% milk
½ cup of sunflower or vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon of salt
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F (176˚ C).
Put the almonds and hazelnuts in a food processor with the cutting blade attached.
Pulse for about 30 seconds, until the nuts resemble the consistency of couscous.
Sift the flour into a medium sized mixing bowl.
Add the sugar and salt, then mix well.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut, chocolate chips and raisins, then mix well.
In yet another bowl, combine the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, then mix well.
Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until the ingredients are well blended.
Add the processed nuts and stir lightly, using a spatula.
Add the almond flour, coconut, chocolate chips and raisin mixture, then mix until all the ingredients are well blended.
Butter a 9” x 13” baking dish, then pour in the mixture.
Bake at 350˚ F (176˚ C) for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Use the convection bake option, if your oven has the feature.
If you want to put icing on the cake, allow it to cool beforehand.
This cake is rich and sweet so it can be served as is. However, there are no rules so you can decorate it with the icing of your choice.