Almond 3-tier 6” cake

Serves: 8 - 12 people

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Hubby Bear (author): Lately I’ve been baking cakes where I bake an 9×13 sheet cake and use a cake cutter ring to cutout the layers. I’ll explain below why I love this method. If you chose to bake in normal 6” cake rounds, just be sure to not overfill them.

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Bear Hands (eater): When Hubby Bear makes this for me, I have him put toasted almonds over the entire cake! But the one below was for someone else and we thought they might prefer less.

What’s to love?

1. Uses the cut-and-stack method (more on that below).
   This is a game changer for getting consistent, clean layers without the hassle of dividing batter.

2. Balances flavor and moisture.
   I used to rely on oil-only cakes to keep things moist (at the cost of flavor). This recipe uses a blend of butter + oil, along with vanilla instant pudding and light corn syrup (not high fructose corn syrup).
   The result is the best of both worlds: rich flavor and super soft texture.
   No pudding or corn syrup? Buy some! They are shelf stable and don’t take up much room. You can get away without using them, but they really do wonders.

3. Layered almond flavor.
   A combination of almond extract and toasted slivered almonds gives this cake a more refined, balanced almond flavor — not overpowering, just right.

4. It uses an intentionally reasonable amount of buttercream.
   Buttercream is delicious, but it’s also very sweet. This cake keeps the buttercream amount a little lighter. Although, there’s plenty so you can sample with the leftover cake pieces.

Why the cut-and-stack method is better

1. Even layers (no guesswork)
   Forget trying to divide batter evenly between pans.
   Just bake one 9×13 (or quarter sheet) and cut out your layers using a 6" cake cutter.

2. Perfect structure and texture
   No doming, no need for cake strips.
   You end up with a flat, even crumb and consistent texture throughout the cake, even the edges!

3. You get a built-in taste test
   My favorite part!!!
   Normally, you don’t know how a cake turned out until you slice it…when it’s already being served to a crowd of people commenting on how good it looks... Pressure!
   With this method, you’ll have some leftover cake scraps that allows you to taste test, and be sure you didn’t accidentally mess anything up 😅

Cake Cutters

I highly recommend getting these cake cutters. Just search for Round Cake Ring Set and you should be able to find them. They take up much less space than a bunch of pans!

Ingredients

The vanilla instant pudding mix and the light corn syrup (not high fructose corn syrup) are the 🪄magic ingredients✨. They add flavor and moisture, but you can get away without using them. I started using these ingredient after coming across AmyCakesBakes website. She offers Instant Pudding as a substitute for Instant Clearjel. You can read about it here at her website.

Cake

▢ 200 grams (~1 ½ cups) All-Purpose Flour
▢ 3 Tablespoons Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
▢ 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
▢ 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)

▢ ¾ cup Buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk + 1 Tablespoon lemon juice)
▢ ¼ cup Water
▢ 1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
▢ 1 Tablespoon Almond Extract
▢ 1 ½ teaspoons low flavor Vinegar (white, apple, rice, etc.)

▢ 200 grams (1 cup) Sugar
▢ 1 stick (4 oz / 113 g) room temp butter (I use salted)
▢ ¼ cup Vegetable Oil
▢ ¼ cup Light Corn Syrup

▢ 1 large Egg
▢ 2 Egg Whites

Vanilla Buttercream

▢ 4 ounces Cream Cheese
▢ 1-3/4 sticks (7 oz / 198 g) room temp butter (I use salted)
▢ 450 grams (3 ½ cups) powdered sugar
▢ 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
▢ ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract
▢ 1–2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk (Optional - to make frosting smoother)

Décor

▢ 2–5 oz slivered almonds, depending on how much coverage you want.
You can cover the whole cake or just the sides as shown in the picture.

• Full shopping List 🛒

  Dry

  • All-purpose flour — 200 g (~1 ½ cups)

  • Vanilla instant pudding mix — 3 tbsp

  • Baking powder — 1 ½ tsp

  • Baking soda — 1 tsp

  • Salt — 1/4 tsp

  Liquids & Extracts

  • Buttermilk — 3/4 cup
    (or milk — 3/4 cup + lemon — 1 tbsp)

  • Water — 1/4 cup

  • Vanilla extract — 1 tbsp + 1 ½ tsp total

  • Almond extract — 1 tbsp + 1/4 tsp total

  • Mild vinegar — 1 ½ tsp

  Sweeteners

  • Granulated sugar — 200 g (1 cup)

  • Powdered sugar — 450 g (3 ½ cups)

  Dairy & Fats

  • Butter — 2 ¾ sticks (11 oz / 311 g total)

  • Cream cheese — 4 oz (113 g total)

  • Vegetable oil — 1/4 cup

  • Light corn syrup — 1/4 cup

  Eggs

  • Eggs — 3 large

  Optional / Finishing

  • Heavy cream or milk — 1–2 tbsp

  • Slivered almonds — 2–5 oz (depending on how much coverage you want)

Detailed recipe:

Yield: 8

Author: Hubby Bear

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Almond 3-Tier 6" Cake

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Ingredients

Cake

• 200 grams (~1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup water
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon almond extract
• 1 ½ teaspoons mild vinegar (white, apple, rice, etc.)
• 200 grams (1 cup) sugar
• 1 stick (4 oz / 113 g) room temp butter (salted preferred)
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• 1 large egg
• 2 egg whites

Vanilla Buttercream

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1¾ sticks (7 oz / 198 g) room temp butter (salted preferred)
• 450 grams (3 ½ cups) powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• 1–2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk (optional, for smoother frosting)

Décor

• 2–5 oz slivered almonds
• Use more or less depending on how much coverage you want — sides only or full cake.

Instructions

Beforehand

1. Take 3 large eggs, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 4 oz cream cheese, and butter (1 stick for cake + 1¾ sticks for frosting) out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature.
2. Grease or butter a 9x13 pan (or 1/4 sheet) and line with parchment if desired.
3. Preheat oven to 325°F.

Mix Dry Ingredients

1. In a bowl, mix 200 g (~1½ cups) flour, 3 tbsp vanilla pudding mix, 1½ tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt
2. Sift if clumpy.

Mix Wet Ingredients

1. In a separate bowl, mix 3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk + 1 tbsp lemon), 1/4 cup water, 1½ tsp vanilla extract, 1 tbsp almond extract, 1½ tsp vinegar.

Cream Ingredients

1. Beat 200 g (1 cup) sugar with 1 stick (4 oz) butter for 3–5 minutes.
2. Add 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 1/4 cup light corn syrup and mix until just combined.

Prepare/Add Eggs

1. Separate 2 of the 3 eggs so you have 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites.
2. Add all of them into the batter and mix until just combined.

Combine & Bake

1. On low speed, alternate adding Dry mixture and Wet mixture (in 3 batches total).
2. Do not overmix.
3. Spread evenly into the pan.
4. Bake at 325°F for 25–30 minutes.
5. Cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool in pan for about 1 hour.
7. Optional: refrigerate and assemble the next day.

Toast Nuts

1. Toast 2–5 oz slivered almonds for 3–5 minutes until lightly golden.
2. Don’t burn them.

Cut Cake Layers (Cut-and-Stack Method)

1. Use a 6" cake cutter ring to cut layers. You’ll get 2 full circles. Then use scraps to make the 3rd layer by cut semi-circles where you can and filling gaps with leftover cake.
2. (See your video for the visual — key step.)

Make Frosting

1. Beat 4 oz cream cheese until smooth (2–3 min).
2. Add 1¾ sticks (7 oz) butter and beat until combined.
3. Add 450 g powdered sugar, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp almond extract.
4. Beat until smooth.
5. Add 1–2 tbsp cream or milk if needed.

Frost Cake

1. Assemble layers with ~1/8 inch frosting between layers.
2. Apply a thin crumb coat.
3. Chill for 2–8 minutes in fridge or freezer.
4. Apply a final thin coat.

Decorate

1. Press the toasted slivered almonds into the frosting.
2. Cover the sides or the whole cake.

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Easy-follow Recipe:

Serves 8-12 people

Ingredients

Tasks

1. 🧈 Beforehand

- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk + 1 tablespoon lemon)
- 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese
- 1 stick butter (4 oz / 113 g) (for cake)
- 1 3/4 sticks butter (7 oz / 198 g) (for buttercream)
- 9x13 pan
- Butter or cooking spray

- Take all ingredients out of fridge to come to room temp.
- Grease or butter pan. Line with parchment paper if you fancy.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. 🥄 Mix Dry Ingredients

- 200 g (~1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp vanilla instant pudding mix
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt

- Mix dry ingredients in bowl (sift if clumpy).

3. 🥛 Mix Wet Ingredients

- 3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp almond extract
- 1 ½ tsp mild vinegar

- In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients.

4. 🧂 Cream Ingredients

- 200 g (1 cup) sugar
- 1 stick (4 oz / 113 g) butter

- Cream sugar and butter for about 3–5 minutes on med/high speed.

- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup

- Add oil and corn syrup and mix until just combined.

5. 🥚 Eggs

- 3 large eggs (2 separated)

- Separate 2 of the 3 eggs and keep egg whites.
- You now have a total of 1 full egg, and 2 egg whites.

- 2 egg whites + 1 full egg (from above)

- Add egg whites and egg and mix until just combined.

6. 🔄 Combine & Bake

- Creamed ingredients (from above)
- Dry ingredients (from above)
- Wet ingredients (from above)

- On low speed, in 1/3 batches, alternate adding dry and wet ingredients to the creamed ingredients.
- Don't overbeat, just need to combine.
- Spread evenly into pan and bake at 325 for 25–30 min.
- Cake is done when toothpick comes out clean (or with only a couple of crumbs).
- Remove cake and cool in pan on countertop (about 1 hr).
- I usually stop here, place the cake in the fridge, and frost the cake the next day.

7. 🔥 Toast Nuts

- 2-5 oz Slivered almonds (depending on how much coverage you want)

- Toast the almonds until you get some color (about 3–5 minutes).
- Just don’t burn them.

8. 🔪 Cut Cake Layers

- 6" cake cutter ring

- Cut cake using a 6" cake cutter ring.
- You will only be able to get two whole layers out of the pan.
- For the third layer, cut semi-circles and use scraps to fill in the middle or one of the layers.
- I recommend seeing my YouTube video for a visual representation of this step.

9. 🍰 Make Frosting

- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1.75 sticks (7 oz / 198 g) butter (room temperature; salted)
- 450 g powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1–2 tbsp heavy cream or milk (optional)

- Use mixer to beat cream cheese until smooth. (2-3 minutes)
- Add butter and beat until combined. (2-3 minutes)
- Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond extract and beat until smooth.
- You might want to add powdered sugar in batches.
- Add cream/milk if you want it smoother.

10. 🎂 Frost Cake

- Frosting (from above)

- Frost the cake.
- You only need ~1/8" thick frosting between cake layers
- I recommend doing a crumb coat. Simply do a thin layer around the entire exterior, place in the fridge or freezer for 2-8 minutes, then do one more thin layer of frosting.

11. ✨ Decorate

- 2–5 oz toasted slivered almonds (from above)

- Press almonds onto outside of cake by pressing into frosting.
- You can do just the base or cover the entire thing!

Video: