Creamsicle Starfish Cut-Outs

creamsiclestarfishMy last bit of beach-themed baking included these creamsicle starfish cut-out cookies, using orange zest and an awesome ingredient called fiori di sicilia. It’s a potent citrus-vanilla type of extract, which I always buy from King Arthur Baking. A little goes an incredibly long way; you can use an eye dropper to add it, but I just used my 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon. In any case, it’s absolutely delicious.

I do wish I’d made my icing more orange in color – these starfish are a little more pale than I’d like. But the flavor was delicious, and something I’ll make again; I’d also like to make lemon sugar cookies, so stay tuned for those. Maybe even in the shape of lemons!

Ingredients

For the cookie dough

  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • zest of 1 medium orange
  • Scant 1/8 teaspoon fiori di sicilia

For the frosting

  • 1 egg white
  • 3 tablespoons shortening
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • Dash of salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Scant 1/8 teaspoon fiori di sicilia
  • 1-2 teaspoons water

Preparation

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add vanilla extract, orange zest, fiori di sicilia, and about half the flour mixture, beating until combined; beat in remaining flour. Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic; chill for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with foil or parchment paper.

Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into star shapes, then place on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for about 4-5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cookies are cool, make the icing. Combine egg white, shortening, salt, and one cup powdered sugar in a mixing bowl.  Beat on low speed until combined, then increase speed to medium, then high, and beat for one minute.

Add additional cup powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed for one minute. Add vanilla extract and fiori di sicilia.  Beat on high speed for one or two minutes, until very well combined.

Check the frosting’s texture; it should be like very, very soft peanut butter and very easily spreadable.  If necessary, add one to two teaspoons of water to thin the frosting and beat well to combine. Reserve about 1/4 cup frosting for starfish accents and tint the remainder orange.

Frost the cookies with the orange icing, then fit a piping bag with a small plain tip and add details. Allow icing to set before storing between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Beach Cupcakes

beach cupcakesBeach-themed baking continues, since once again, almost everyone I know is taking, has taken, or is currently on a beach vacation. I feel like these treats need something else design-wise but I can’t figure out what. A mermaid tail? Shells? An oyster made of miniature vanilla wafers with a sugar pearl inside? Or perhaps my favorite, a teddy graham laying out wearing a bikini? Maybe next time.

Flavor-wise they’re a caramel almond creation; almond cupcakes with caramel frosting, convenient for the color of the sand.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • About 1/3 cup caramel sauce*
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

*I used Smucker’s Caramel Ice Cream topping to save time but you can also make your own caramel sauce. Homemade caramel sauce is absolutely delicious.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my batch made 17 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove and add egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir into the flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into tins and fill about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add caramel sauce, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat to combine completely. Using an offset spatula spread frosting on half of the top of each cupcake; tint the remaining frosting blue and fit a piping bag with a medium star tip; pipe “waves” onto each cupcake.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or refrigerate if it’s really warm out, which it is in Pittsburgh today – 83 degrees right now.

Sand Dollar Cookies

sanddollarcookiesEveryone I know is going the beach this summer. Ocean City, Sandbridge, Nags Head, Rehoboth…you name it, someone I know has recently been to it, is currently on it, or will soon be visiting it. Alas, there is no beach vacation in my summer plans. But I do hope to get a little lakeside beach time at Deep Creek this summer, so we’ll see.

Sand dollars – which I didn’t know until today are a type of sea urchin – are also called sea cookies in New Zealand and Spanish-speaking parts of the Americas, and I love that. These sand dollar cookies were very easy to make; I found my recipe over at Krazy Kitchen Mom, though there are several options for sand dollar cookies out there.  This is the snickerdoodle-topped-with-almonds variety, rather than the sugar-cookie-cutout-topped-with-almonds variety. I might try those sometime soon, though.

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the topping

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • Flaked almonds

Preparation

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each; mix in vanilla. Add about half the flour mixture and beat to combine, then beat in remaining flour. Cover and chill dough for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with foil. Combine 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll into balls. Dip in cinnamon sugar, then place on the baking sheets and flatten; top with 5 flaked almonds, pressing the almonds in just slightly. I put six cookies on each baking sheet, as they spread.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for about 10 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 28.

Shark Cupcakes

sharkcupcakesIt’s Shark Week. Apparently this annual effort to educate people about sharks – breaking down misconceptions established by movies like Jaws (terrifying, I tell you) – has been a Discovery Channel staple since 1988. Happy 36th anniversary, Shark Week. To celebrate, I baked these shark-themed cupcakes, a basic chocolate cupcake with some vanilla almond buttercream and a sugar cookie fin.

Despite being completely terrified by Great Whites thanks less to Jaws and more to their generally creepy appearance, I actually really like sharks, especially the small ones in aquariums. They always look serene, just kind of gliding around in the tanks. Here’s to you, serene sharks. Maybe someday I’ll be less terrified by your enormous, razor-mouthed cousins.

Ingredients

For the fin cookies

  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

For the cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • Blue food coloring

Preparation

Start by making your fin cookie dough, as it can chill while you bake your cupcakes and make your frosting.

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add vanilla and almond extracts and about half the flour mixture, beating until combined; beat in remaining flour. Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic; chill for 30-45 minutes.

Make your cupcakes:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe makes 14-15 cupcakes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil into the wells; add water and mix until the batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble up slightly when you add the water, so just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill cupcake wells about half full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.

While cupcakes are cooling, bake your fin cookies. Roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into circles using a large, 4-inch round cutter. Cut each circle into fourths, then using a fluted cutter, slice off a small portion of the dough to create your fin shape. Place on a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10-11 minutes, until edges are just golden. Remove from oven and cool completely before adding to your cupcakes.

While fin cookies are cooling, make your frosting. Beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla and almond extracts and beat to combine. Tint frosting blue; I used both a light blue and dark blue color to swirl together to make my waves. Fit a large piping bag with a large closed star tip (I use the Wilton 1M) and pipe frosting back and forth in a zigzag on each cupcake, then top with a fin cookie. I’m waiting to put all my fins on until just before I serve these, so the cookies don’t get soggy, which can happen because of the buttercream. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

S’mores Bars

smoresbarsEveryone I know is either going on vacation or just getting back. Lots of beach trips and some hiking adventures, including my own in Wyoming. I visited Grand Teton National Park and hiked about eleven and a half miles there with Roman, my 17-year-old nephew. We also visited Yellowstone and saw some amazing thermal pools, along with Old Faithful. Both Grand Teton and Yellowstone seem like good places to make s’mores, and yet as we weren’t camping – and therefore not near a camp fire – we went s’more-less.

These treats, which I found at Life of a Foodie, are really delicious and very, very much like the real thing. Requiring almost five Hershey Bars and a full jar of marshmallow fluff, they are anything but low calorie. Then again, I guess if you’re hiking all over the wilderness, you can afford some calories for sure.

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 4 sheets graham crackers, crushed to fine crumbs (this equals 1/2 cup)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • About 5 standard-sized Hershey bars
  • 7-ounce jar marshmallow fluff

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 tin with parchment paper.

In a mixer, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Add flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, and baking soda and beat to combine.

Divide dough in half; press half into the parchment-lined tin, then lift it out and place it in the fridge to chill while you make the other layers. Re-line your tin with parchment and press the other half of the dough into the bottom; top with Hershey bars, covering the dough completely. For me, this took four full Hershey bars and about 3/4 of the fifth one, with just a few bricks remaining. Top with marshmallow fluff; I used an oiled offset spatula for this, which worked really well because the fluff is so sticky. Remove the other dough layer from the fridge, carefully peel away the parchment, and very carefully set it on top of the fluff layer.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is just golden brown. Remove from oven and cool in the tin for about 30 minutes, then lift out by the parchment and cool completely on a wire rack. I cut my bars when they were still just a bit warm inside, hence the flow of marshmallow you see in the photo. If I make these again, I’ll probably let them cool overnight before cutting them. Makes 16.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread II

cinnamonswirlbreadCinnamon swirl bread recipes are a dime a dozen, especially on the internet. I’ve made it before and blogged it many years ago in this post – and it was certainly delicious. But this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction is better, in both taste and texture. I think the sour cream – which makes the bread really tender and almost fluffy – is the key ingredient.

This bread made its way to my dear friend Carrie in State College for her birthday a few weeks ago; I made two batches at once so I was able to try it and took the rest of the second loaf to the office, where it was a very big hit.

Ingredients

For the cinnamon swirl

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

For the bread

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup whole milk, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 5 loaf tin with baking spray.

To make the swirl, combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, vegetable oil, sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine – don’t over-mix. You just want all the dry ingredients to be absorbed into the wet ingredients.

Pour about half the batter into the loaf tin; reserve two tablespoons from the swirl mixture and sprinkle the rest over the batter. Carefully top with the remaining batter, and sprinkle the remaining swirl mixture on the top. Using a knife, make a large swirl down the loaf – you don’t need to swirl too much.

Bake for 50 – 65 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Check your bread around 40 minutes and cover with foil to prevent over-browning. Remove from oven and cool in the tin for about one hour, then remove from the tin and let cool completely on a wire rack. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature for 3-4 days.

Creamsicle Pound Cake

creamsiclepoundcakeThe Good Humor Creamsicle is one of the best ice cream desserts around, an awesome combination of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet. Now that summer is here (well, technically not until a few weeks from now, but it’s June so let’s go with it), I wanted to bake something inspired by this classic summer treat. Enter the creamsicle pound cake.

Full disclosure: I baked two versions, one with a different recipe and one with the recipe below. The recipe below turned out better – it’s yet another riff on my poppy seed cake, this time with orange zest and fiori di sicilia, a very potent citrus/vanilla extract (of which a little goes a very, very long way) in the batter. If you don’t have fiori di sicilia, you can use 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract instead; the flavor won’t match exactly, but it’ll be close enough.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon fiori di sicilia
  • zest of 1 medium orange 

For the icing

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • scant 1/8 teaspoon fiori di sicilia
  • 3-4 tablespoons orange juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt tin.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large, 4-cup glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, fiori di sicilia, and orange zest. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients to completely combine.

Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in tin for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract, fiori di sicilia, and 2 tablespoons orange juice; add enough additional juice to make a thick but pourable icing. Pour over cake and allow to drip down the sides. Allow icing to set before serving.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for several days; this cake stays moist for a very long time.

White Almond Cake

almondcakeWhite almond cake is a classic, but many of the recipes I found online were the three-layer variety. As a person who doesn’t have three round cake tins (why exactly, I don’t know), I wanted a simple two-layer option and found this recipe at Sally’s Baking Addiction. It’s a basic white cake, but I made it into an almond version for my mom’s (early, because my brother and nephew were in town) birthday celebration this past weekend.

I added strawberry buttercream between my two layers, but wish I’d gone with a much thicker layer of it – it tasted delicious, but there just wasn’t enough. The cake itself is delicious and really tender, so I’ll absolutely make it again. It seems like a great base cake for other flavor ideas, so stay tuned.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 2 1/2 cups cake flour, spooned and leveled
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 5 egg whites, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon almond extract
  • 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

For the strawberry buttercream

  • 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 to 1 and 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • About 2 tablespoons fresh strawberry puree, to taste*

For the almond buttercream and decoration

  • 1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 tablespoons almond extract
  • 2/3 cup flaked almonds, toasted and cooled

*The more puree you add, the thinner your buttercream will become, so add sparingly along with additional powdered sugar to make a soft, but sturdy buttercream. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round baking tins with baking spray, line with parchment circles, and spray the parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter for 1-2 minutes. Add sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes, until fluffy; scrape down the bowl a few times. Add egg whites and beat on high to combine, then beat in sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract. With the mixer running on low, slowly add dry mixture until just incorporated, then add milk. Don’t over-mix; once you’ve added the milk, turn off your mixer and finish incorporating everything by hand.

Divide batter evenly between the cake tins; bake for 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely in the baking tins.

Once cakes are cool, make the buttercreams. For the strawberry, beat butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, then add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add strawberry puree and beat to completely combine; set aside until you’re ready to assemble the cake.

To make the almond buttercream, beat butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, then add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla and almond extracts and beat to combine completely.

To assemble, place one cake layer on your serving plate; pipe a circle of almond buttercream at the edge of the cake and fill with strawberry buttercream; this will keep the strawberry from leaking out when you cover the cake in the almond buttercream. Top with the second cake layer, then frost the top and sides with the remaining almond buttercream. Press toasted flaked almonds up the sides of the cake.

almondcakesideA view from the side, with toasted flaked almonds on display. 

Homemade Nutter Butters

homemadenutterbuttersNutter Butter cookies are my second favorite store-bought cookie, right behind the Double Stuf Oreo. For some reason I always have them on road trips, and honestly don’t know why. A homemade, copycat version came across my Pinterest feed from The Soccer Mom Blog recently and I thought, why not? As always, I added more vanilla to my filling than the original recipe called for, because I never think recipes have enough.

Anyway, here’s the thing…these cookies are massive. I mean, massive. They claim to have 230 calories each, and I believe it. The next time I make them (likely tomorrow) I’m going to make them smaller, and probably try a chocolate filling instead of peanut butter just because. While they’re not crunchy like the store-bought version, they’re absolutely delicious. 

Ingredients

For the cookies

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar, for rolling

For the filling

  • 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 
  • 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Place granulated sugar in another small bowl to roll your dough in, and set that aside as well.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar together. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine, then add in flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop out portions of dough. Roll into balls, roll in granulated sugar, then form into log shapes and place about two inches apart on the baking sheets. To create the peanut shape, pinch the middle of each log, then use a fork to make the crisscross pattern like you would on a regular peanut butter cookie. Bake for about 10 minutes, until edges are just starting to turn golden brown – you don’t want to over bake these (or any treats, really). Remove from oven and cool cookies on the baking sheets for 3-4 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cookies are cool, make the filling. Cream together butter and peanut butter, then add in powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then place in a piping bag and pipe about one tablespoon of filling onto half of the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies to create sandwiches. My batch yielded 15 sandwiches, and I had plenty of filling left over – about a half-cup, at least. I’m holding onto that for another treat.

Almond Croissant Blondies (aka Frangipane Blondies)

almondcroissantblondiesCroissants aren’t really my thing, to bake or to eat. If I do eat one, I want an almond one filled with frangipane. So what is frangipane, you ask? It’s an almond paste commonly found in pastries and tarts, like the Bakewell tart from England. In this case, an almond blondie base gets a layer of frangipane on top of it, then a layer of sliced almonds on top of that, not unlike the almond croissants you can find at bakeries and your local Starbucks.

What I know is this: these treats are absolutely delicious. They remind me very much of the croissant version, and I definitely want to make them again. I found this recipe at Lifestyle of a Foodie, and it absolutely did not disappoint.

Ingredients

For the blondie layer

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/3 cup almond flour

For the frangipane layer

  • 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon orange zest, optional
  • 2/3 cup almond flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds, for topping

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 baking tin with parchment paper.

Make the blondie layer: In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then add in almond and vanilla extracts and beat to combine. Add salt, flour, baking powder, and almond flour and beat to completely combine. Spread batter into the prepared tin.

Make the frangipane layer: In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat to combine, then add vanilla extract, almond extract, and orange zest and beat well. Beat in almond flour and salt to make a smooth paste.

Spread frangipane over the blondie layer, then top with sliced almonds. Bake for 30-34 minutes, until edges are golden and center is just set. Allow to cool in the pan for about 25 minutes, then remove from the pan by lifting the parchment and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into squares; makes 16.