Wednesday 28 August 2013

Raspberry and Blackberry Almond Ripple Cake

I bought a 200g punnet of raspberries, intending to make this Raspberry and Amaretti Crunch Cake, with some Amaretti biscuits approaching their use-by date, but the reviews said the biscuits lost their crunch after the first day, which was not really a surprise, but deterred me from making it, as I knew the cake would be around for at least three days. It seems to be a cake which needs eating at once to really appreciate the texture - perhaps the right occasion to make it will arise!.

I looked around for other recipes for slightly unusual raspberry cakes and came across this one for a Raspberry Ripple Cake; the only problem was that it needed 300g raspberries. I decided to make the first stage - the fruit purée - with 100g of blackberries from the freezer, and use the fresh raspberries in the other stages - the fruit added to the cooked purée and the topping.

While I was making changes, I also decided to replace 50g of flour with ground almonds and add a few drops of almond extract to the cake batter too, to introduce more of the almond flavour the original cake would have had. As my eggs were large, I omitted the extra egg yolk and added a little more milk to give the batter a dropping consistency.

Using blackberries turned out to be a really good idea; the ripple layers were tart and intensely flavoured and a good contrast to the sweet raspberries topping the cake. The cake was a little denser than I'd hoped for, especially considering that it needed refrigerating to keep it fresh, but I can use the idea of the fruit purée to make ripples in a better cake batter.

I forgot to swirl the ripples before adding the topping and this would probably have made the cake look even better. The blue background of my cake box is not the best look, either, but the cake was too difficult to move once it had been put there.

Well, we're off to Canada for the first two weeks of September (for a tour of Vancouver, the Inside Passage and the Rockies), so I won't be posting for a while. By the time we get back it should be apple picking time and autumn cooking.

10 comments:

Alicia Foodycat said...

That does look good!

Unknown said...

what a stunning cake! I adore raspberry ripple so this is an ideal cake for me, very puddingy too, which is always good.... enjoy your holiday x

Beauty's Bad Habit said...

This looks utterly amazing! I'll have to think up another topping though as bf is allergic to nuts.

Suelle said...

@BBH - crushed brown sugar cubes would work, or just a sprinkling of Demerara sugar.

Jean said...

The cake looks beautiful and I love anything with blackberries in it. Thanks for the link to the recipe.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Hello said...

Your cake looks delish, A perfect summer cake x

Snowy said...

A great looking cake - the swirls are really effective. Have a good holiday.

Anonymous said...

we heart berries,cake looks perfectly tender and very summery with such a burst of berries,adorable treat :-)

Choclette said...

Well I think it looks quite stunning Suelle. Do hope you have a wonderful time in Canada.

Snowy said...

A delicious looking cake - I love the ripples, and raspberries and almonds are a winning combination.
Have a great holiday.