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.
Berry and almond cakes
*disclaimer – these days I wouldn’t treat that sort of sickness in any way like I did back then. I have come a long way. For more info, follow me on Instagram.
If there is one thing I learned the first time my eldest was sick it is that a Mother’s Instinct is something pretty strong.
The home doctor we called in the middle of the night after he had been screaming for pretty much 5 hours straight didn’t think it was anything abnormal.
She said he had an ear infection, wrote a script for antibiotics and ran out the door.
I’m no doctor but I knew it wasn’t an ear infection and I knew that screaming in the night was not normal for our baby.
An ENT specialist confirmed it wasn’t an ear infection and there was no need for antibiotics but then as the week went on he got worse and worse and broke out in blisters all through his mouth that were so painful he couldn’t eat or drink.
After a bit of a debacle (ie Emergency sending us home when they shouldn’t have and I shouldn’t have let them!) he ended up in hospital with a tube down his nose to get some fluids in after losing nearly 2kg in less than a week.
By Monday he was a little brighter but still refused to even sip water and that instinct of mine knew there had to be something more wrong with him.
We finally got our paediatrician in (he wasn’t on call over the weekend) who did a proper examination and discovered a very swollen throat.
A hard-core dose of steroids and we were sent home where he has been getting better every day since and is just about back to his happy, healthy little self.
Trust your Mum instinct if you think a professional might be wrong speak up (or just get a second opinion). They’re all human just like us.
I also learned that we have a very very brave little man.
Not only was he in hospital with a tube down his nose, as he had a contagious virus the poor kid was confined to his room and couldn’t even go to the playroom down the hall.
Yet he still made his own fun when he was feeling up to it be it waving down to the people on the street, playing hide-and-seek under his blanket, ‘reading’ Grandma’s paper or charming the nurses – he made his Mummy and Daddy very proud.
We’re all finally starting to get our energy back and while I haven’t gotten around to baking, I did make these delicious berry almond cakes before Ollie got sick which I’m going to insist that you make as soon as possible.
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.
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?
Berry and almond cakes
Ingredients
- 250g (9oz) mixed berries (I used frozen)
- 140g (5oz) ground almonds (almond meal)
- 140g (5oz) butter, softened
- 140g (5oz) raw sugar
- 140g (5oz) wholemeal (wholewheat) self-raising flour
- 2 free-range eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp 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.
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About The Author
Claire Cameron
Nutrition and Wellness Coach, mum of 3 and creator of Claire K Creations, Claire Cameron is passionate about simplifying natural living for busy families.
Through good food, natural products & simple living she'll help you achieve better health and a happier planet in a quick, easy & affordable (but not hippie!) way.
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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!
Wow I can’t believe a doctor said that to you! Clearly they didn’t have any children!
Ugh you poor thing (and Ollie too!). Glad to hear it’s all on the up. xx
Thanks JJ! xx
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!
It’s just terrible isn’t it?!
Do you have any recipes for someone that has diabetes I need help[
What sort of recipes are you looking for Maryjan?
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 :)
Me too Lorraine and you are very right. Instincts are there for a reason!
These do look delicious. I’m glad to hear that you and your boy are feeling better! Liz xx
Thanks Liz x
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.
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.
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
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