The traditional Chinese New Year's cake nian gao ... butter instead of oil, white sugar rather than the usual brown, and opt for dairy milk and the inclusion of almond extract.

This gorgeous white velvet cake has a soft, tender crumb. So what's the secret ingredient? Egg whites instead of whole eggs.

In fact, there's another elixir that you'll find in vanilla's shadow on the supermarket shelf that can add depth and dimension to a simple vanilla cake — and that's almond extract. While you can ...

they make a similar almond cake called gato d'ametla, which is flavoured with the grated zest of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and sometimes a few drops of vanilla extract ...