Raspberry Almond Cake with Sunflower Seeds

These days I have been trying to cut back on my sugar intake (on my doctor’s recommendation) but every now and then I desperately crave something sweet. It’s on days like this that I allow myself a tiny indulgence – a Raspberry Financier and a cup of espresso at Le Pain Quotidien. This Financier is tiny (two bites and its gone!) and that has convinced me that maybe it isn’t as bad for me as it seems. It smells heavenly with butter and raspberry flavors running deeply through it.
Of course, I am a notoriously bad baker but I decided this morning that I was going to at least attempt to make a raspberry almond cake that would mimic the flavors of the Raspberry Financier. I scoured through at least 10 recipes on-line for all kinds of raspberry flavored baked goods and finally threw together a recipe that was a weird combination of all of them (or at least some of them). I added sunflower seeds on top of the cake to give it some extra crunch.  When it came of the oven, it looked so magnificent that I couldn’t help but cut a slice out of it. I had it with a cup of espresso and believe me, it was pure heaven!!!! I guess, after this past year of trying, I am developing some instinct for baking!!!

Ingredients:

1.    6 Eggs (room temperature)
2.    4 tablespoons of butter (unsalted and room temp)
3.    1 cup sugar
4.    2 tablespoons of raspberry liqueur (if you don’t have alcohol, you can replace it with 1 teaspoon of raspberry flavor)
5.    1 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
6.    1 teaspoon of corn starch
7.    2 teaspoon of baking powder
8.    1 pinch of salt
9.    16 ounces of fresh raspberry
10.    2 cups of almond meal/flour
11.    Zest of two lemons
12.    2.5 tablespoons of sunflower seeds

Directions:

1.    Preheat the oven at 325F.
2.    Break open the 6 eggs and separate the whites from the yolks.

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3.    Place the egg whites in an electric mixer and beat the eggs till they are fluffy and foamy.

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4.    Add the cup of sugar (slowly) to the mixers bowl while it is still beating on a slow setting.

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5.    Add 3 yolks to the bowl and continue mixing.

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6.    Add the vanilla extract and raspberry liqueur to the bowl and continue mixing

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7.    Add the softened butter to the bowl and continue mixing.

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8.    Combine the dry ingredients – almond flour, baking powder, salt and corn starch in a medium sized bowl and using a fork mix all the dry ingredients together.
9.    Slowly add all the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and continue mixing the ingredients at a low speed.

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10.    Zest two lemons and add the zest to the electric mixer’s bowl to make the batter.
11.    Oil the base and sides of a cake pan use a cooking spray or with a piece of dry kitchen towel, oil the inside of the cake pan.

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12.    Pour batter into the cake pan.

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13.    Sprinkle the fresh raspberries evenly on top of the batter.

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14.    Sprinkle the sunflower seeds on top of the batter.
15.    Place the cake pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the top looks lightly browned and thoroughly cooked.

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16.    Take the cake out of the oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.
17.    Pop open the spring pan and take the cake out – serve while it is still hot or at room temperature.
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