Almond Cake with Raspberries

It is not a secret that I have a sweet tooth and I love cakes. In truth, my whole adventure with cooking started with baking. But I do know that cakes - although delicious - are not really the healthiest option. I do try to bake healthier versions with less sugar, no butter, no gluten etc. but it doesn’t change the fact that sometimes I do fancy a heavier cake. That is why I came up with an idea of baking… small cakes. So I use smaller baking tins and obviously end up with less cake and smaller portions. Thanks to this, I can still enjoy a piece of heavier cake but it is a much smaller piece, and after having it, I don’t feel guilty!

For this Almond Cake I used an 18cm-diameter tin which – when I saw it in a shop for the first time – looked so tiny. But you can easily divide this cake into 8 portions. But if you have guests or you fancy a bit more of it, you can simply double the ingredients, use a bigger tin and extend baking time (for the whole cake with the filling) by approx. 10-15 minutes.

INGREDIENTS (for 6-8 portions):

Base:

100g diced butter plus extra for greasing a baking tin,

125g plain flour,

40g sugar,

1 egg yolk,

Filling:

30g sugar,

2 egg yolks,

125g ground almonds,

3 egg whites,

1 tbsp Amaretto liquor,

100g raspberries.

METHOD:

1. In a food processor (or manually) mix the butter and flour, add the sugar and egg yolk and quickly combine together; form a flattened ball and put it to a fridge for at least 1 hour.
2. After that time heat up an oven to 200 Celsius degrees (180 for fan ovens) and grease a 18cm round baking tin with a removable base.
3. Roll the dough between two pieces of baking paper (it is easier this way) and transfer it to the tin making sure the base and sides (min. 3-4 cm high) are covered.
4. Bake in the oven for 15 min.
5. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and amaretto until creamy, add the almonds and stir.
6. Whisk the egg whites till stiff and then add a few spoons to the almonds’ mixture to loosen it a bit, stir and add the rest of the whisked egg whites and stir again very gently.
7. Pour on top of the baked base, decorate with raspberries and put to the oven (temperature decreased to 180 Celsius degrees or 160 for fan ovens) for 40-45 min.