I love any reason to bake a cake: a wedding shower, Thanksgiving, Labor Day, Tuesday afternoon. But birthdays are my favorite. This summer I got to celebrate Susie turn one on a beautiful farm with an almond cake filled with passion fruit buttercream.

Almond Layer Cake with Passion Fruit Filling
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Almond Cake
4 1/2 cups cake flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup prepared almond paste (7 ounces)
2 2/3 cups sugar
2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp almond extract
10 egg whites
1 1/2 cups whole milk

**makes a 9" triple layer cake

Passion Fruit Curd
4 egg yolks
3 oz. sugar
2 oz. passion fruit puree
1/2 stick (2 oz.) butter, room temperature, diced

Buttercream
1.5 cups unsalted butter, at room temp
4.5 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
passion fruit curd, to taste

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 8 or 9-inch cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Place the almond paste and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on low to break up the almond paste. Increase to medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until the paste is broken into fine particles.

Add the butter and almond extract and beat well, then add the egg whites, two at a time, just long enough to incorporate. Scrape down the sides of the bowl several times to make sure it is evenly mixed.

Add one-third of the dry ingredients to the mixture and fold with a large rubber spatula until combined. Fold in half the milk. Fold in half the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk. Finally, fold in the last of the dry ingredients until no streaks of white remain. Divide the batter among the three prepared cake pans.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make the curd: Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a glass bowl. Whisk in the passion fruit. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water (a double boiler) and stir with a wooden spoon (or whisk) for 7-10 minutes or until the mixture is thick and no longer falls in a quick stream back into the bowl.

Remove from the heat and strain through a sieve, if needed. Add the butter and stir until combined. Chill until room temperature. This will keep for a few days in the refrigerator.

Make the buttercream: Beat the butter in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar until fully combined. Add vanilla. Gradually add cooled passion fruit curd until desired flavor is reached.

I baked my own birthday cake. Some may call this heresy but I like to think of it as being the perfect time to make one hell of a cake. Besides the fact that it fell off of the stand and into my hand three quarters of the way through slicing it, I think that I succeeded in making a killer chocolate and passion fruit cake.

A little bit on passion fruit:

I love it. I love the sweet kind (granadilla) and the sour kind (maracuyá). As passion fruit does not grow anywhere near the US, it is close to impossible to find it unless you want to spend $3 on one piece of fruit. To make matters worse, it is also close to impossible to find passion fruit puree that isn't full of sugar. If you love it as much as I do, I highly recommend splurging on the products from Perfect Puree. They sell purees and concentrates of any fruit that you can think of: raspberry, strawberry, lemon...and any fruit that you may not think of: passion fruit, prickly pear, tamarind, lychee...

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting and Passion Fruit Curd
adapted from Ina Garten, King Arthur Flour

Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350. Spray or butter two 8" cake pans and line with parchment paper. Spray or butter the parchment paper, as well, and dust with flour. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium/high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Mix the buttermilk, sour cream and coffee in small bowl. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture, alternating one third buttermilk then one third flour, ending with the flour. Mix only until blended.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans (I weigh them to ensure that the batter is even) and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and they spring back when touched. Cool completely then remove from pans.

Make the frosting: Sift the cocoa, 6 oz. powdered sugar and espresso powder into a bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer on the stove and whisk into the cocoa mixture until smooth. Set aside to cool for about 10-15 minutes.

Beat the butter, salt, and 8 oz. powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.

With the mixer running on low, add the cocoa mixture one spoonful at a time until it is incorporated. Once the mixture is completely added, beat on high for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.

Remove from the heat and strain through a sieve, if needed. Add the butter and stir until combined. Chill until room temperature. This will keep for a few days in the refrigerator.

Cake
1 3/4 cups AP flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
2 tbsp brewed coffee

Chocolate Frosting
5 1/4 oz. unsweetened baking cocoa
6 oz. powdered sugar
1 tsp espresso powder
8 oz. heavy cream
8 oz. butter, room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
8 oz. powdered sugar, sifted
2 tsp vanilla extract

Passion Fruit Curd
4 egg yolks
3 oz. sugar
2 oz. passion fruit puree
2 oz. butter, room temperature, diced

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