Almond and Lime Mini Travel Cakes

Almond and Lime Mini Travel Cakes:

• 10 ounces almond paste, broken into 1-inch pieces
• 3 large eggs
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• pinch of salt
• 4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tablespoon hazelnut liqueur

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 2 mini muffin pans with vegetable oil spray.  In a food processor, pulse the almond paste several times until broken into small pieces; don't overprocess or the paste will become oily.  Add the eggs and pulse until smooth.  Add the butter and liqueur and pulse until incorporated.

Scrape the batter into a small pitcher and pour into the muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full.  Bake for about 22 minutes, until the cakes are golden, puffed, and firm to the touch.  Transfer the pans to a rack and cool for 20 minutes, then invert the cakes onto rack to cool completely.

Icing:

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 1/2 tablespoons hazelnut liqueur
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest, plus zest strips for decorating

In a bowl, mix the confectioners' sugar, cream, liqueur, and lime juice.  Using a handheld mixer, beat at a low speed until smooth.  Beat in the 1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest.  Spoon the icing over the cakes, allowing it to drip down the sides.  Garnish with lime zest before serving.

*Adapted from Food & Wine magazine.

Cady and I didn't add lime zest to the frosting, instead we only used it as a garnish.  Also, we didn't have mini muffin pans available, so we were able to make 10 cakes in a regular muffin pan.

After this batch turned out a little stickier than we would have liked, we returned to the store to buy a different type of almond paste and an orange, to try it with a different fruits.  You can also try it with lemons.  The three together, with the different flavors and different colors of zest would look beautiful!  Perhaps for a special occasion...

The cakes smelled unbelievably good while they were baking and they turned out really nicely.  We think they could have been better (with different almond paste), but they were pretty yummy!

When we tried it with the new almond paste and oranges, we made them truly mini, instead of regular muffin sized.  They were a little more dry, but they may have been overcooked.  They tasted good, but the general consensus favored the originals with the almond filling instead of paste.