Almond And Raspberry Cakes
A simple and delicious mini cake recipe, these almond and raspberry cakes are so dainty yet impressive. They can be eaten as a tea time treat or as a dessert warmed up with some ice cream.
To make these almond and raspberry cakes, I have baked some fluffy almond cream in a crisp pastry cup. Each cake is topped with raspberries before baking and then covered in icing sugar once cooled.
This recipe uses frozen raspberries but you can replace them with any kind of frozen fruit that you wish. The almond cream has such a mild flavour that it will go with most fruits.
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Why use frozen fruit?
There are many reasons to use frozen fruits for this recipe. The main reason is that it reduces the risk of the fruits burning when you bake the almond and raspberry cakes. The other reason is because buying frozen fruit— especially berries— can reduce food wastage. Fresh fruits often get thrown out because the go mouldy or soft too soon. With frozen fruit, there is no need for it to be wasted. Also, in the UK there is a very small time frame when fresh fruit is in season so for most of the year frozen fruit actually tastes better.
How to store your almond and raspberry cakes?
These mini cakes will stay fresh for 1-2 day and will keep for longer in the fridge. After 2 days they may go a little stale but that is no worry, place them in the microwave for a few seconds and they will soften right up.
Can I use other types of fruit?
This recipe is very versatile and because the almond cream has a such mild flavour, it is a great match for most types of fruit. Blackberries, in particular, I know are a good match. You can also try mixing it up with a mixed berry combo etc. Whatever you choose, I would recommend small fruits because they will be easier to place on top of your mini cakes and whole, small fruits tend to look more impressive.
Almond And Raspberry Cakes (extended)
Prep time
1 hour-1 hour 10 minutes
Cook time
15-20
Makes
12
For the Pastry
65g Salted butter
120g Plain flour
1 Egg
Making the pastry
For the pastry, rub the butter and flour together with the tips of your fingers until you get a breadcrumb texture.
Tip: shake the bowl from side to side. Any lumps left in the mix will rise to the top. Keep mixing until there are more lumps. This technique helps make sure that there are no large lumps of butter left in the bowl.
Add the egg and bring the pastry together— you may need to add more flour if the pastry is sticky, it all depends on the size of your eggs. Turn the pastry on to a well-floured surface and knead it until it comes together into a smooth ball.
Rolling and cutting the pastry
Roll the pastry out to 1/2cm thickness. Using an 78mm diameter, frilled cutter, cut out 12 discs. Keep re-rolling the dough as needed. Press the discs of pastry in to a muffin tin and then place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
For the Almond Cream
100g Unsalted butter, softened
100g Icing sugar
2 Eggs
100g Plain flour
100g Ground almonds
50g Frozen raspberries
Making the almond cream
Beat the butter and icing sugar, starting on a low speed gradually leading up to high speed. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute or until the butter and sugar are fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating the mix on low speed after each egg. Fold in the flour and ground almonds until fully combined. Place the all the almond cream in to a piping bag and then cut a large hole at the end (around 2cm wide).
Tip: if you have warm hands only put a small amount of almond cream into the piping bag at a time. Your warm hands could melt the butter in the almond cream so piping a little at a time reduces the time that is in contact with your hands.
Assembling the cakes
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Remove the pastry from the fridge. Evenly pipe a swirl of the almond cream on to the base of the pastry. Try to keep the tip of your piping bag directly above the pastry— this will help you create an even layer. Distribute the almond cream between the 12 pastry cases and then evenly distribute the raspberries on top of the almond cream. Slightly press the raspberries in to the almond cream and then place in the oven.
Tip: if you aren't comfortable using a piping bag then you can use a couple of spoons to distribute the almond cream. Just make sure you smooth the top of the cream with the back of a metal spoon so that they rise evenly in the oven.
Baking the almond and raspberry cakes
Bake the cakes for 15-20 minutes until they are golden on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. Sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy!
Optional: these little cakes aren't super sweet (they are still delicious though) but if you want to add an extra sweetness you can add a little glaze. Warm some apricot jam or honey and brush over the tops of the cakes once they are cooled. The glaze also gives an extra shine.
Did you make this recipe? Send me pictures of your baking masterpiece over social media or by email.
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