Mini Angel Food Cakes topped with Advocaat

Something that is very popular in Germany around Easter is "Advocaat". It is a liqueur made with egg yolks, and is often used in cakes and desserts. People also drink it straight, usually in chocolate shot glasses.

It is widely available in Germany in supermarkets or from Artisan manufactures. Many people also make their own. I have never tried it, but I found a recipe for homemade Advocaat, in case you want to try.

I don't make angel food cake often, because you need so many egg whites, but those little ones are perfect for just using up a few. For me angel food cake always needs some kind of topping, and this is really the easiest cake dress up you can do. Just pour as much on the ready baked cakes as you like, and you are done. The advocaat is pretty thick, so no need for adding anything else to it. I think the color is really pretty for any Easter table.

Advocaat (Eggnog) - Cardamom Pound Cake

There used to be a Swedish bakery not far from our place, and they had a signature cardamom bread, which I like very much. So I decided to try this out myself, but instead of bread I wanted to make a pound cake. You can get cardamoms at some supermarkets, but I think you'd find them much cheaper in Indian grocery stores. They come in two kinds, with shell (green) and without (brown). Get the green ones; the shell keeps it fresh and also preserves the flavor.

Another important ingredient in my pound cake is advocaat. In Germany, we call it Eierlikör (literally, egg liquor). It's similar to eggnog, but the taste is quite different, especially that there is no alcohol in eggnog. A very popular thing for us is to drink advocaat served in shot glasses made of dark chocolate. Yum! I have never made or tasted homemade advocaat myself, but here is a recipe if you want to try.

I found a great recipe for my cake in Baking for all occasions by Flo Braker. I changed it a little bit and added cardamom and advocaat instead of eggnog, which makes it a great moist spice cake.