Almond-raspberry cake

Howdy! I'm in that funny place I go to every summer, where the work-me, the food editor at All You, is knee-deep in Thanksgiving and Christmas, while the other me, the home-me, is busy scarfing up all the summer fruits I can get my grubby little paws on. Work = turkey, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, gingerbread; while home = rhubarb, melons, and berries, berries, berries. I love it, though I never do quite get used to it!

So... Sunday night we had a lovely early dinner with the mush's friend Jude (and his parents, of course). This is the sweetest, cuddliest, pudgy-cheekiest, bluest-eyed little fella you ever saw. I love this kid! He's such a jolly little boy, so happy, smiley and full of enthusiasm. No wonder he and the mush are good friends. Here they are, two peas in a pod:

Please!

Anyway, we love his parents, Bliss and Patrick, too. They very kindly invited us to dinner, and so we showed up with the mush and this almond-raspberry cake, which is from my cookbook, You Made That Dessert? I also brought over a work-in-progress recipe from a new book project I'm working on... more on that at a later date. Stay tuned.


Anyway -- to bring this epically long post back around to where we started (are you still here? Excellent)... I love this cake because it's loaded with fresh raspberries, so non-work-me can enjoy the season in my favorite way: baking! :) It's also very moist and rich from the almond paste. It's great on its own or with just a dusting of confectioner's sugar -- but I'm sure no one would kick you out of bed for drizzling it with a simple glaze or serving the wedges with generous scoops of ice cream.

Enjoy!


Almond-Raspberry Cake
Serves 8

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 7-oz. tube almond paste, broken into pieces
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 6-oz. box fresh raspberries
1/4 cup sliced almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat sugar and almond paste until well mixed. Add butter, raise speed to medium and beat well to form a cohesive paste. Raise the speed again to medium-high and beat until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl and beat again to combine.

3. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to almond paste mixture and stir together with a flexible spatula. Do not overmix. Fold in raspberries. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

4. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs clinging to it, about 35 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Carefully flip it over again so that it's right side up on wire rack and let cool further. Serve slightly warm, or let it cool completely, wrap well in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.