Raspberry Almond White cake

Baking is something I don’t do a ton of. I find it time consuming, and you have to concentrate the whole time you are doing it. Baking is also not very forgiving… if you don’t get things precise you can end up with a disaster coming out of the oven. Cooking, however, you can make adjustments up until you are ready to serve it. That being said, I do like to bake for special people from time to time. This cake is something I’ve been making since I bought the book “Cakes, Cupcakes and Cheesecakes” by Williams Sonoma Kitchen Library, 1995ish. I don’t even claim to change anything about this recipe, it’s pretty perfect the way it is. It’s a little time consuming, but it’s worth it. There are 3 parts to this cake: the cake itself, the filing and the icing. All easy to do. Here are the ingredients for the cake:

• 2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temp
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup whole milk
• 5 large egg whites at room temp
• Cream cheese frosting – to follow below
• 3/4 seedless raspberry preserves for the filling
• optional garnish: fresh raspberries or toasted almonds

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour (2) nine-inch cake pans. Set them aside while you prepare the cake.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl. Set aside. Separate the eggs. (note: I mixed some milk with the yolks and made breakfast for my dog. She’s spoiled yes, but I didn’t want to waste them. 😊 )

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer) beat the butter for 3-4 minutes until light and creamy. Gradually add in the sugar and mix until well blended. Next, add the vanilla and the almond extracts. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Let that fully mix in. Add 1/2 of the milk, while continuing to stir. Add another 1/3 of the flour, rest of the milk, rest of the flour, all while allowing the ingredients to blend before moving on to the next.

Beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the rest of the batter until they were completely incorporated. Fold in the rest of the egg whites until just combined. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake the cakes until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let them rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack until completely cool. Your house will smell fabulous!

Cream Cheese icing – this icing has a touch of almond extract in it like the cake does, which makes it tasty with the raspberry jam. Here’s all you need:

• 1 lb. (2 – 8oz blocks) of cream cheese at room temp
• 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temp
• 1 1/4 cups to 1 1/2 cups of confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with a hand mixer) cream together the cream cheese and the butter on medium high speed until well blended. Reduce the speed to low and add the confectioners’ sugar about 1/2 cup at a time, until the icing is thick enough to hold shape on a cake. Add the extracts and mix well.

Melt the preserves over low heat until just melted, then remove from the heat. Now time to build the cake!

Here’s the concentration part – cutting the cakes in half, so you have 4 layers. If you aren’t up for it, it is perfectly acceptable to make this a 2-layer cake and move on. I actually made this with a box cake mix (shocking I know) and tried to make the filling and frosting. That ended up being called a “slide cake” by my family and this cake has been (lovingly) referred to by that name ever since. I had put too much filling and icing in the middle and the heat in my kitchen caused a huge mess, resulting in a more trifle desert once I was done taking out my frustration on it. In my own defense, it was still tasty.

Just take your time and cut them as evenly and straight as you possibly can. A serrated knife helps.

Either way, time to assemble. Place a small dab of icing on the serving platter to keep the bottom layer in place while you build the cake. Place the first layer cut side up and spread a layer of frosting, enough to cover it but not too thick. Drizzle the preserves over the frosting, being sure to stay at away from the edges so you don’t end up with preserves oozing out the sides into the final layer of frosting. Place the next layer cut side down on the first layer. (If you are just using 2 layers, place the frosting and preserves between the layers and frost the cake whole from there.)

Repeat with the next layer, if you have cut the layers in half. Once all the layers are assembled, frost the cake with the rest of the icing. I managed to get things pretty even, decorating is not my strong skill, but it looked pretty just the same. You can decorate with fresh raspberries around the top, or sliced almonds pressed on the sides if you feel fancy. Clearly, I wasn’t in fancy mode here.

Warning: Only make this cake for people you really like or that you are never going to see again. Once you make this you will be asked to keep making this cake and will never be asked to bring anything else. 😂😘

If you want to, you can chill this cake. I think it cuts prettier that way but feel free to enjoy this however you want. Cut thick slices and prepare for the compliments – you certainly earned them.