Raspberry Frangipane Buttermilk Cake

 A layer of juicy and sweet raspberries, a layer of almond-y frangipane filling and a layer of oh-so-moist and light buttermilk cake. It is basically the best one-bowl cake (aka lazy summer dessert) that you could make with fresh berries that is still so elegant.  If you look closely, you can see that the layers separate into 3 different layers and it makes it extremely beautiful when you slice into the cake. The thing that makes this cake is that it truly highlights the flavor of the raspberries. During the summer, I try and use fresh raspberries since they are in season, and it really brings the flavor to a whole other level, but using frozen raspberries works just as well!

Because you are baking this cake upside down and then flipping it right side up, the raspberries sort of become jammy and acts like a glaze for the cake, meaning that it does not need anything to top it! No frosting, no icing, no glaze, not even whipped cream.  It’s actually perfect just by itself, which I love since I’m not a huge fan of heavy frostings.  That being said, I think that this cake would also be delicious with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and sprinkle of berries.

Not going to lie, the idea for this cake actually came from a dream.  I woke up in the middle of the night with the idea for this cake in my mind and frantically scrambled around in the dark looking for a piece of paper and pen to jot down the idea before it slipped from my mind. 

So the bf works at a clinic in St. Paul and since I’ve been shoveling all my excess baked goods at the nurses and doctors that work at the clinic, I figured I should probably bake one last cake to say thank you to them for putting up with all my testing of baked goods before moving to New York City for graduate school.  Since I’ve been so busy packing, I wanted to make a cake that was a breeze to make but also looked stunning. GUYS, this is IT! I swear, it took me like 15 minutes to put everything together and then I threw it into the oven and got back to attempting to shovel my 20 pairs of shoes into one suitcase (it’s harder than it looks…). When the timer buzzed, all it took was a nice cake stand and a little cooling time to put it all together.  Did I mention that every bite feels like you’re eating summer?

Fun food science facts: The frangipane helps keep this cake extremely moist because it is mainly ground almonds which do an awesome job retaining moisture and keeps the cake from getting to dry.  Ever make volcanic eruptions in elementary school? Believe it or not, that’s what makes your cake light and fluffy! The acid in this case is the buttermilk, and just like in elementary school, the base is the baking soda. These two ingredients in the cake batter help produce lots of air to keep the cake from getting too dense.

RASPBERRY FRANGIPANE BUTTERMILK CAKE | Makes 10-12 slices
INGREDIENTS

for frangipane

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 stick softened unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

for cake

• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) softened unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• one 8″ cake pan

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 (F)
2. For the frangipane, mix together almond flour, all-purpose flour and sugar in a small bowl. Then work softened butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles a soft dough.
3. Add in eggs and vanilla extract before mixing well.  Set mixture aside.
4. In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together.
5. Add in egg and whisk to combine.
6. Add in buttermilk and vanilla extract and mix well.
7. Then add in flour, salt and baking soda and whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients until well-incorporated.
8. Grease and line cake pan bottom and edges in parchment paper for easy removal.
9. To assemble the cake, spread raspberries evenly on bottom of cake pan. Pour frangipane over berries and spread  it evenly. Finally pour cake mixture on top and smooth top.
10. Bake cake for 70-75 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.  If cake top looks like it’s browning too quickly, cover in aluminum foil.
11. Let cake cool for 15 minutes before inverting cake and cooling fully.

Enjoy!

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Raspberry Almond White Chocolate Scones

I’m biased, but in my opinion, these are the best raspberry almond white chocolate scones.

My current obsession of watching Great British Baking has spilled over into all aspects of my life, especially the food part. I’ve had a hankering for fish & chips, bangers & mash and Scotch eggs AND I DON’T EVEN EAT MEAT!!!!!  Some please help me. And if you’re going to come over, you might as well come and help me eat the dozens of scones piled up in my kitchen.
As far as desserts go, scones are pretty healthy…I mean only one tablespoon of sugar in the entire recipe AND fruit? You gotta be kidding me! On the other hand, a scone might just fill your entire saturated fat quota for the day. I guess it’s all about balance, right? Scones seem pretty easy to make, but if you’re not careful, they can quickly become tough and dry. This was the exact reason why I hated scones for so long…until I discovered the key to perfectly fluffy, buttery and flavorful scones.

For the perfect scones, make sure that you really work the butter pieces into your dry ingredients. Butter coats the flour particles and prevents gluten formation which keeps the scones moist and soft. The second part to delicious scones is to make sure you don’t overwork the dough.  It is so easy to want to add more flour because the dough will be very sticky, but work the dough just until a ball forms – I find it easiest to use a rubber spatula and fold the ingredients together until a dough ball forms and then gently pat it into a circle.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your scone game on!

IMPORTANT: Using frozen raspberries will ensure that the raspberries don’t make your dough too wet and bleed all over the place. As for white chocolate chunks, that’s a personal preference, but chunks generally melt easier than chips, so if you like pockets of molten chocolate in your scones versus solid pieces, use white chocolate chunks

RASPBERRY ALMOND WHITE CHOCOLATE SCONES | Makes 8 scones
INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar + 1 tbsp more for sprinkling
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter – cut in 1/2″ pieces
• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chunks
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream + 2 tbsp more for brushing
• 1 egg

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 (F).
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Add in butter pieces and using hands or pastry cutter, incorporate butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse sand.
4. Add in white chocolate chunks and frozen raspberries taking care to separate any raspberries in frozen chunks
5. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine heavy cream, almond extract and egg, mixing thoroughly.
6. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into the well.
7. Using spatula, fold wet and dry ingredients together until a wet, shaggy dough forms.  DO NOT overwork dough.
8. Place dough on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and pat into an 8″ circle.
9. Brush top with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar. Then cut circle into 8 pieces to help scones rise more easily in oven.
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges are just starting to turn golden brown and the tips of the scones feel firm to the touch.

Enjoy!