Berry and almond cakes - super quick and easy to make cupcakes, delicious and perfect partner to your afternoon tea. An all-in, food processor recipe.
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I had a friend coming to afternoon tea, had an over-supply of almond meal and a craving for berries.
I kept going back and forth between a raspberry-almond bakewell cake or friands and no matter how hard each of them argued neither one won.
So I split the difference and baked a cake in my silicone muffin tin so it was kind of like raspberry friands.
This recipe is super easy because you just throw everything in the food processor.
Seriously - it’s basically fool-proof.
I put 15 minutes in the prep time but that’s seriously generous.
I think in 15 minutes you could get out all the ingredients, make the batter, get it in the oven and have everything cleaned up.
Ingredients
- Mixed berries - you can use fresh or frozen
- Almond meal - aka almond flour
- Butter - the real stuff
- Raw sugar
- Wholemeal (wholewheat) self-raising flour - here's how to make your own self-raising flour
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract - here's how to make your own vanilla extract
- Slivered almonds
- Icing sugar - here's how to make your own powdered sugar
It’s ridiculously delicious because almonds and berries are a match made in heaven but the downside is they’re really hard to resist.
I ate one as soon as I snapped the lense cap on my camera after the shoot then quickly packed them up to take to my friend’s house (where yes I ate more - don’t judge me) and made sure I left her some when I left.
The rest didn’t last long let me tell you.
I think they were best warmed a little and would also make a pretty delicious dessert with a little bit of cream.
Oh and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
Well now I’m just going to have to make them again so I can try the dessert version.
They freeze well too - just wrap individually in plastic wrap.
You don’t have to use mixed berries.
The original recipe used fresh raspberries but they’re a bit expensive here so I used frozen. Feel free to use whatever you have available. Enjoy!
What about you? What have you learned in the last week?
Recipe
Berry and almond cakes
Ingredients
- 250 g 9oz mixed berries (I used frozen)
- 140 g 5oz ground almonds (almond meal)
- 140 g 5oz butter, softened
- 140 g 5oz raw sugar
- 140 g 5oz wholemeal (wholewheat) self-raising flour
- 2 free-range eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon slivered almonds
- icing sugar to serve
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 160C(320F) fan-forced and grease a 12 hole muffin tin. I used a silicone pan and didn’t need to grease it.
- In the bowl of a food processor, give the berries a quick whiz to chop them up then scrape them out and set aside.
- In the same food processor (no need to clean the bowl), blitz the almonds, butter, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla until well combined (scrape down the sides a couple of times to make sure there are no dry ingredients stuck.
- Add the berries back in and give it a quick whiz just until they are marbled through the batter.
- Divide the batter between the muffin holes.
- Sprinkle the slivered almonds on top and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle of one comes out clean.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and then dust with icing sugar before serving.
Nutrition
Tania | My Kitchen Stories says
Hi Claire. I just came across this. This is the advise I ALWAYS give Mothers I know too. I have had similar things happen to me when mine was small. YOU know your own child. I even had an argument with a doctor at one time who actually said...You are just a Mother what would you know?. Needless to say we never went back, and my son had just what I thought he had and I found a new doctor to treat him. Good on you!
Claire says
Wow I can't believe a doctor said that to you! Clearly they didn't have any children!
JJ - 84thand3rd says
Ugh you poor thing (and Ollie too!). Glad to hear it's all on the up. xx
Claire says
Thanks JJ! xx
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
I'm so glad Ollie is better and you are so right about mothers knowing there is something wrong. When Kathy was that age she had huge blisters all over her body and they wanted to send her home from hospital. She couldn't wear clothes it hurt so bad. I refused to take her home until someone decided to give us a diagnosis. When hospitals are busy, they take the easiest route. Not good enough.
I love your little cakes!
Claire says
It's just terrible isn't it?!
MaryJan says
Do you have any recipes for someone that has diabetes I need help[
Claire says
What sort of recipes are you looking for Maryjan?
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
Oh I'm so glad that he is ok now! That must have been absolutely frightening to go through Claire. Always trust your instincts (mothering or regular :)) I say :)
Claire says
Me too Lorraine and you are very right. Instincts are there for a reason!
Elizabeth says
These do look delicious. I'm glad to hear that you and your boy are feeling better! Liz xx
Claire says
Thanks Liz x
Amanda says
Great work trusting your mum instincts Claire. my daughter is 14yr and has been sick with headaches and generally unwell for over 3 months now. the first two doctors told us she was depressed and offered anti depressants. She is not depressed but they didnt listen. they took blood tests which came back normally. Finally we found a doctor that listened to her, took more tests and surprise surprise she has glandular fever and an infection called mycoplasma. Trust your gut, I too knew my daughter was not depressed and refused to give up.
Claire says
Well done Amanda! Isn't it scary though? Your poor little girl could have been on some pretty strong drugs for absolutely no reason! I hope she's on the mend now.
Hotly Spiced says
I've been wondering how you are. I had no idea you were going through such a terrible time. It's very stressful having a sick child and having to see him with a nasogastric tube wouldn't have been easy. I'm glad you are all now recovering and how wonderful he's sleeping so well. I have a few friends my age who haven't had children and I'm sure they look younger than me. For the dark circles under my eyes and all the grey hair, I blame all those bedside vigils with sick children! xx
Claire says
Oh I know Charlie I think I have aged about 10 years in the last few weeks. Hopefully that's the worst we have it sickness wise for a while! x