Here’s a recipe for the Raspberry and Almond Cake I baked for Jonny the day he welded up the holes in my new (old) VW van. I think of it as my ‘Thank you & I love you Cake’ ;)
I’m not a huge fan of sponge cakes, as I find they can be quite dry and need a damn good coating of ‘goo’ to make them palatable. However Jonny loves them, and he also loves all things raspberry so it was a bit of a no brainer that the day he dons his welding mask for me, is the day I put two of his favourite flavours together to say thank you.
And I must admit to scoffing a man size portion myself (which after two solid weeks of eating a mostly paleo diet wasn’t my cleverest move, but then I’ve never been one to wield much restraint when it comes to food) and I have to say it was pretty darn good. Still not as up there for me as a maple & pecan slice or a Danish pastry but I might well be tempted to dive back in for a second slice if invited.
One thing I did on the advice of a 1970’s cookbook I was reading recently, was to mix some raspberry jam into the buttercream. YUM! That works a treat. It delicately coloured the icing pink and the occasional raspberry pips throughout make it look about as home made as you can get. However, most importantly, it tastes stunning.
I must admit that I intended to make this a 4 layer cake for added drama, however the first two cakes out of the oven were a little darker than intended. I think a more honest description would be that they were burnt.
Jonny’s face lit up when he saw them as he, and my Mum, both prefer bread and cakes that are just a little bit burnt. Bless ’em :)
So here’s the recipe if you fancy making your own Raspberry and Almond Cake, and if you do, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. And if you fancy shaking things up a bit, you could always add this lime buttercream to the cake, rather than keeping things raspberry flavoured. What do you think?
- 175 g butter
- 175 g sugar
- 3 eggs beaten
- 175 g plain flour
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 100 g butter I prefer salted, but unsalted is more traditional in buttercream, softened
- 175 g icing sugar sifted
- 3 tablespoons raspberry jam
- 1 tablespoon raspberry jam
- 50 g flaked almonds
- 1 punnet of fresh raspberries
- Grease 2 x 8" round shallow cake tins. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Pour in a little of the beaten eggs at a time, mixing well as you go.
- Sieve in the flour and baking powder and gently mix using a wide scooping action, try not to overmix.
- Scrape half the mixture into each cake tin, smooth over, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown, is springs back when pressed lightly with a finger and a skewer comes out of the cakes centre clean.
- Leave to cool a little for a few minutes then tip out of the tins onto a cooling rack. let cool fully before icing
- Cream the butter until smooth and add in the icing sugar and raspberry jam. Keep mixing until yu have a lovely evenly pink buttercream. You can add some red or pink food colouring if you want your pink to have more pop.
- Spread the raspberry jam on the top of one of the cakes. Top with 1/4 of the buttercream and sprinkle with half of the flaked almonds. Top with the second cake and spread the remainder of the buttercream on the top and sides of the cake, smoothing as you go.
- Circle the top of the cake with raspberries and sprinkle with the remaining flaked almonds.
Sophie says
Sounds delicious. I love raspberry and almond as a flavour combination
Jane Sarchet says
Thanks Sophie :)
Janie x
Emily says
Ahhhh my favourite flavours! This looks lovely :)
Jane Sarchet says
:D
Fuss Free Helen says
That looks delicious Janie! Love the idea of adding the jam to the buttercream for natural colour and flavour!
Jane Sarchet says
Clever isn’t it Helen, love those old recipe books for ideas like that :)
Janie x
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
This looks like a lovely moist cake. I just love the combination of almonds and raspberries too.
Jane Sarchet says
Thanks Dannii :)
Janie x
familyfriendsfoodblog says
That looks stunning! Great tip about adding jam to the icing :-)
Jane Sarchet says
Do let me know if you try it Helen ;)
Janie x
sarahlorrainebond says
That buttercream sounds heavenly! This looks great, Janie!
Jane Sarchet says
Thanks Sarah :)
Janie x
Kam Kay says
Looks like there are lot of almond and raspberry combo fans. Count me in too. This cake looks super delicious. Yumm!
Jane Sarchet says
That’s sweet of you, thanks Kam :)
Janie x
Mariana De Sousa says
Looks like a winner. Thanks for sharing!
Jane Sarchet says
My pleasure Mariana :)
Janie x
Wandercooks says
Awesome! What a great idea to put the jam in the buttercream. I’d love to try this with a fig jam we have at home. :D
Jane Sarchet says
Oooh, interesting Wandercooks. I’d love to know how you get on!
Janie x
Tracy Wood says
So pretty Janie. I think this is the cake for my mother-in-laws birthday. At 91, she now like to start with something sweet and pretty, before moving on to chicken sandwiches! Thank you,xTracy
Jane Sarchet says
Oh how adorable Tracy! Please send her my love and best wishes for her birthday :)
Janie x
Jane Sarchet says
Oh how adorable Tracy! Please send her my love and best wishes for her birthday :)
Janie x
Ludmilla says
I love that you added fresh raspberries to a classic buttercream frosting. Looks delicious!!
Jane Sarchet says
Thanks so much Ludmilla :)
Janie x
karen278 says
Lordy Lordy! This looks SPECTACULAR! And I hope Jonny appreciated your cakey skills Janie! Fresh raspberries always make a cake and bake in my opinion! Karen
Jane Sarchet says
Thanks Karen, & I think you might be right!
Janie x