I love frosting. I love cupcakes with lots of frosting and cakes covered in big frosting rosettes. But sometimes a cake is just so delicious, you want the frosting to simply complement, not dominate. This raspberry almond cake gets that balance just right. The cake is rich and perfectly textured and the raspberry buttercream frosting adds a bright flavor and color. It’s loaded with real raspberries and topped with tender candied blood oranges, giving just a bit of bitterness to balance the sweet. All of the three components are delicious on their own. But together, they’re magic.
The Cake:
I’ve always loved this recipe for almond cake by David Leibovitz (who by the way, pinned one of my posts this summer. I blushed so hard when I saw it, my face looked like raspberry frosting. So neat!). There’s just something so elegant about it. It looks humble, but that rustic browned top is hiding a cake that is perfectly sweet, nutty and moist. I wish you could all taste it right now, because words just don’t do it justice. For this recipe, I’ve stayed with the original for the most part. If you choose to use the tart pan like I did, expect to have some seepage and put a baking sheet underneath to catch drips. Also use a tart pan with high sides
The best part is that this cake is so adaptable. You can simply dust it with powdered sugar, or split the cake and fill it with jam. You can bake it into 2 or 3 rounds and make a layer cake with this Chocolate Almond Buttercream. Or just leave it in the pan and eat a half inch slice every hour for three days. That’s what we do.
The Raspberry Buttercream:
One of my favorite baking hacks is to use freeze-dried fruit ground into a powder. It allows you to add big fresh-fruit flavor without adding moisture that might mess up your cookies, frostings and meringues. This raspberry buttercream gets its flavor and color naturally, from just 1/4 cup of raspberry powder. You can find freeze-dried fruits at your grocery store near the raisins. I’ve found raspberry, pineapple, strawberry, blueberry and even mango. To make into a powder, just grind in your coffee grinder or food processor. If you don’t have either, just put the fruit in a freezer bag and whack it with a rolling pin or mallet to get it as fine as you can.
Making the buttercream is simple. Just cream the butter, then beat everything but the fruit. Then add the fruit and beat it some more! Simple. Make sure to use room temperature butter for this one as a softer frosting will be easier to get into the swoopy loose shapes that give this cake it’s charm.
The Candied Blood Oranges:
I am the first to admit that the candied blood oranges are optional. This cake is delicious without them. But they look super pretty. And they add a really nice bitter note. And it’s the perfect time for winter citrus. And they look so pretty.
If you do make these, be sure to start the day before you plan to serve your raspberry almond cake. These are pretty foolproof but heres a few things to keep in mind: Slice these thin. No more than 1/8 inch. If they’re too thick they’ll get tough and gummy instead of tender with just the right amount of chew. And don’t skip the blanching and ice bath. It seems unnecessary, which is why I skipped it the first time I made them but it really does make a difference. The texture of the rind is just not quite right if you don’t blanch them. Reserve the ends of your oranges that were too small for slices and squeeze their juice right into the sugar syrup. Waste not, want not! And finally, I tried both sugaring and not sugaring the slices and preferred them without. But if you want them to be less sticky, definitely sprinkle them with a bit of sugar once they’ve dried out overnight.
Raspberry Almond Cake:
I hope you’ll give this one a try. It’s a really special flavor combination, looks so cheerful on a cake plate in the kitchen and will give you bragging rights at your next dinner party. Or pajama party. Or party of one.
More Yummy Fruity Stuff from Bakers Brigade:
- Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cupcakes
- Negroni Cake with Blood Orange Filling
- Glazed Apricot-Pistachio Cookies
- Grapefruit Curd
- Strawberry Matcha Meringues
- Blackberry Bramble Bars
- Chocolate Tart with Tea-Candied Lemons
- Earl Grey Lemon and Lavender Tart
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- 8 ounces almond paste
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 eggs room temperature
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons cream, half and half or milk
- 1/4 cup raspberry powder made by grinding a few ounces of freeze-dried raspberries in a coffee grinder or food processor
- 2 ripe blood oranges sliced 1/8" thick (save the ends for the juice)
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups sugar plus extra for sprinkling, if desired
Ingredients
Almond Cake
Raspberry Buttercream
Candied Blood Oranges
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- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch fluted tart pan or grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan.
- In the food processor, grind the almond paste, 1/4 cup flour and sugar until it's finely ground and looks like coarse sand. Add the extracts. Then drop in the butter in tablespoons and process until it's smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and process until smooth, scraping down the bowl at least once.
- In a small bowl, combine 3/4 cup flour, baking powder and salt. Put half of the flour mixture in the food processor and pulse a few time until just combined. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture.
- Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and set and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and cream (or half and half or milk). Beat on medium high for 2-3 minutes, until very light and smooth. Turn mixer to low and slowly add the raspberry powder. Once combined, turn up mixer to medium high and beat for another 1-2 minutes. Use immediately or refridgerate for up to 3 days. If you refrigerate, let the frosting come to room temperature and beat it again in the stand mixer before using.
- Combine sugar and water in your widest sauté pan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Meanwhile, fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Place the orange slices carefully in the boiling water and let boil for 1 minute. Remove and immediately put in the ice water.
- Once cooled, transfer the orange slices to the hot sugar syrup and turn down heat. Simmer, don't boil, the slices for 45-50 minutes, or until the rind is slightly translucent. Remove from syrup and let dry on a cooling rack overnight. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
