Quick and easy Raspberry Almond Cake. Made with almond meal, flaked almonds and fresh raspberries, it boasts a soft, buttery crumb and a golden, nutty crust. Best of all, it’s ready to eat in one hour!
I’m in love ❤️
Meet my new Raspberry Almond Cake. A perfectly soft, butter cake with a distinct almond flavour. Made with almond meal and a dash of almond extract, this cake is filled with juicy raspberries and topped with crunchy, flaked almonds.
It’s surprisingly easy to make, but it looks just a little bit fancy. And it tastes amazing! Light, buttery and almond-y.
why you will love this recipe
- It’s quick and easy to make
- Makes just one 8-inch cake
- It boasts a beautiful soft, tender crumb
- Ready to eat in under an hour
recipe testing
I had so much fun testing the recipe for this Raspberry Almond Cake. I’m a big fan of quick and easy one layer cakes like my Lemon Crumb Cake and popular Pistachio Cake recipe. So I couldn’t wait to make a delicious almond cake filled with juicy raspberries.
I began recipe testing by using my Apple Cinnamon Cake as the base. It uses oil to create a really moist cake. I substituted a little flour for almond meal, added almond extract, fresh raspberries and flaked almonds.
The result? Surprisingly awful (see the first cake below). The balance of ingredients was off. The cake sank in the middle and it was dense and wet. The raspberries added way too much moisture and the almond meal had affected the structure.
So I tried again, this time adding a little more flour and a little less yogurt to deal with the moisture issue. But things got worse. The cake sank even more, and the changes made the crumb dry – yuck!
Since it didn’t seem to be working, I decided to switch things up and try a butter based cake instead. I tweaked my Cinnamon Tea Cake recipe, which uses butter instead of oil, milk instead of yogurt and only baking powder. The result? AH-mazing! (See the third cake below).
It was just a touch underbaked. So I tested it one more time, baking it for an extra few minutes and the results were perfection. A truly soft, buttery crumb with pops of raspberry and a crunchy, nutty crust.
what you will need
This Raspberry Almond Cake can be made using mostly pantry staples. Here’s a list of everything you’ll need, including any substitutions you can make.
- Unsalted butter
- Caster sugar: Or granulated sugar.
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract: You’re likely to find almond extract in your local supermarket in the baking section or online. It offers a unique flavour but only needs to be used sparingly. You can leave it out if you prefer, and use double the vanilla extract instead. I promise, the cake will still be amazing.
- Eggs
- Plain flour: Or all purpose flour.
- Almond meal: Almond meal is not the same as almond flour. Almond meal is made from 100% ground raw almonds, usually with the skin still on, while almond flour is made from peeled, blanched almonds. Almond flour also has a finer texture. I tested this recipe with almond meal and recommend using it for best results. But almond flour will also work.
- Baking powder
- Raspberries: You can use fresh or frozen raspberries in this recipe. Personally, I prefer fresh raspberries. If you choose to use frozen raspberries, add them to the batter frozen – do not thaw them first.
- Milk: I recommend using full fat or whole milk for best results.
- Flaked almonds
tips for making perfect cake batter
This recipe requires you to cream the butter and sugar first, so you will need an electric mixer. You’ll be rewarded with a lovely light, soft cake with a golden crust and a buttery crumb. Here are a few tips for success:
- Use softened butter: Starting with room temperature butter will make it easy to cream together the butter and sugar. This step is very important in creating a soft and tender cake. If your butter is too cold, you’re likely to end up with lumps of butter in your cake batter.
- Take time to cream your butter and sugar correctly: Creaming means beating your butter and sugar together until the butter turns pale, light and fluffy – almost cream-like. It ensures your cake is soft and tender. If your butter is lovely and soft to begin with, it won’t take long, just a few minutes using an electric mixer on medium speed.
- Weigh your ingredients: For best results, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using a baking scale. It’s very easy to over-measure ingredients like flour and almond meal when using cup measurements.
- Avoid over-mixing your cake batter: Once your batter is combined and creamy, you can stop mixing. Over-mixing can result in a dry or tough cake.
- Don’t over-bake your cake: You’ll know your cake is ready when a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Your cake should be golden all over and no longer have a sticky or wet top.
fresh or frozen raspberries?
I prefer to use fresh raspberries for this cake if they’re in season. I tear most of the raspberries in half and gently mix them into the cake batter. When I was recipe testing, I found that adding whole raspberries into the cake batter made the cake too mushy in parts.
But I do press a few whole raspberries into the top of the cake. You can absolutely use frozen raspberries if you prefer. Do not thaw them. You can simply add them frozen into the cake batter. Just be gentle when stirring the batter, otherwise the raspberries may bleed – and make the batter pink-ish.
frequently asked questions
Yes. You could use blueberries, strawberries or blackberries. I just recommend adding the berries sparingly as they can add a lot of extra moisture to the cake.
If you’ve had issues with berries sinking to the bottom of your cakes, you can toss them in 1-2 tablespoons of the flour before you add them to the batter. But don’t use extra flour – only use the flour that is already measured out for your cake. I find tearing the raspberries in half works just as well. For bigger berries, try chopping them into smaller pieces before adding them to the cake.
Yes. This cake is delicious fresh from the oven, but it can be made a day or two in advance. You can also freeze the cake.
You can keep this cake in an airtight container at room temperature.
more one layer cakes
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Let’s Bake
Raspberry Almond Cake
Soft and tender Raspberry Almond Cake with a crunchy, nutty crust.
Ingredients
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 175 grams (1 and 1/4 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 75 grams (3/4 cup) almond meal or ground almonds
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) full fat or whole milk
- 125 grams (1 cup) fresh raspberries
- 30 grams (1/3 cup) flaked almonds
- Icing sugar or powdered sugar, to serve, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and creamy, approximately 1-2 minutes.
- Add eggs, vanilla and almond extracts and beat briefly to combine. Don’t worry it it goes a little lumpy at this stage.
- Add flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt, along with the milk. Gently mix together on a low speed, just until cake batter is smooth and creamy.
- Roughly tear 95 grams (3/4 cup) of the raspberries in half and fold them into the batter. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Press remaining whole raspberries on top. Scatter over flaked almonds.
- Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Leave cake to cool for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. To serve, dust cake lightly with icing sugar.
Notes
Almond extract: You’re likely to find almond extract in your local supermarket in the baking section or online. It offers a unique flavour but only needs to be used sparingly. If you don’t enjoy the flavour of almond extract, you can reduce it to 1/4 teaspoon. Or you can leave it out entirely and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (total).
Raspberries: You can use fresh or frozen raspberries in this recipe. Personally, I prefer fresh raspberries if they’re in season. If you choose to use frozen raspberries, add them to the batter frozen – do not thaw them first. If you’ve had issues with raspberries sinking to the bottom of your cakes, you can toss them in 1-2 tablespoons of the flour before you add them to the batter. I find tearing the raspberries in half works just as well.
Almond meal: Almond meal is made from 100% ground raw almonds usually with the skin still on. It is not the same as almond flour, which is made from peeled, blanched almonds and has a finer texture than almond meal. I tested this recipe with almond meal and recommend using it for best results. But almond flour should also work.
Storage: You can keep this cake in an airtight container at room temperature.
Nutrition Information
Kate says
Hi Jess, I have to admit I’ve not heard of almond meal before. I have some raw, natural almonds in their skins, so if I blitzed them in my Nutribullet, would that work the same? Should the blitzed result be like fine crumbs or flour?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Kate, yes that should work! Almond meal is not as fine as almond flour, slightly larger, so fine crumbs is the way to go.
Sam says
Hi. Have you tried making this flourless and simply increasing the almond meal? How much extra almond meal would you suggest?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Sam, no I haven’t tried that I’m sorry. It would very much change the texture though!
Maggie says
Do you melt the butter first?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Maggie, no. You simply use softened butter for this recipe.
Dorota says
Made with gluten free flour , came out perfect 🙂
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Oh love hearing that Dorota!
Kim says
Made this cake and it went down a treat 😋 delicious 😋
I was wondering if I could use other fruit in this recipe?
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Kim! Absolutely, you could definitely experiment with other fruits. I think blueberries, cherries or pears would be lovely. Just try keep the ratio of fruit to cake the same.
Preetika Chadha says
Hi can not use raspberries and make this a vanilla almond cake instead ?
Jessica Holmes says
Absolutely!
Hj says
Can I use different pan like loaf pan or 8×8 square pan?
Jessica Holmes says
Absolutely! You can definitely use an 8-inch square pan if you prefer.
Therese A says
This is such a delicious cake, every time I make it everyone comments on how great this is. I even used it in a mango trifle, instead of a plain sponge and it went really was such a good compliment to the mango.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that Therese! This cake in a mango trifle sounds absolutely divine!