I have been stuck on the couch the past couple of weeks after injuring my knee doing a yoga routine. (Yes yoga, pretty embarrassing, isn’t it?) This injury has limited my ability to experiment in the kitchen because standing too much causes my knee to swell. I am feeling better this week however, and have been very anxious to get back into this kitchen, so I have been getting back to work slowly, as much as I can tolerate.

I bake some type of sweets every couple of days when we are in Umbria to give to our farmhouse guests, but when we are back in the States, unless I am baking for guests or family visits, or for an upcoming holiday celebration, I rarely bake sweets. My husband does have a biscotti jar that I try and keep filled with crunchy, not too sweet biscotti, but apart from that, we rarely eat sweets ourselves.

If I am going to splurge on calories, I would much rather enjoy something savory than sweet. I did so much baking last Christmas however that I just had an urge to get back into the kitchen recently and bake something. I do prefer rustic cakes, either made with fresh fruit or nuts, so I decided to bake a raspberry almond cake. This cake has a cream cheese layer which along with fresh raspberries, creates a very moist cake, and I added a streusel topping with sliced almonds for texture.

I had a big bag of sliced almonds leftover from the holiday, so I wanted to use them up, but if you prefer, you could use walnuts, pecans, or even hazelnuts. Although I love all berries, raspberries are my favorite, so when I went to the store recently and saw raspberries on sale, I bought three containers of plump, tart raspberries.

In place of the raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries would work well in this recipe as well. A slice of this cake would be great with your morning coffee, or you can dress it up with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries and serve it for dessert after a special meal.

Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele 

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Raspberry Cake With Almond Streusel

Yield: Serves 10

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients

Cake Base:

• 2 1/3 Cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 8 Tablespoons (1 Stick/1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter, At Room Temperature
• 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
• 4 Large Eggs, At Room Temperature
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract
• 1 Cup Plain or Vanilla Yogurt
• 1 1/2 Cups Fresh or Frozen Raspberries

Cream Cheese Layer:

• 1 (8 Ounce) Package Cream Cheese, At Room Temperature
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 Cup Sugar

Streusel Topping:

• 6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• 1 1/2 Cups All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Cup Sliced Almonds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., and spray a 9-inch springform pan with baking spray.
2. In one bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt.
3. In another bowl using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium speed until blended.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the almond extract and blend.
6. Alternately add half the flour and half the yogurt, then repeat, just beating until combined.
7. Stir in the raspberries, then pour the batter into the prepared pan.
8. In a small bowl, beat together the cream cheese, egg and 1/4 cup sugar until creamy.
9. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the cake batter, spreading to cover.
10. In another bowl, use your fingers to rub all of the streusel topping ingredients together except the almonds until it becomes pea sized.
11. Stir in the sliced almonds, then sprinkle the topping on top of the batter.
12. Bake the cake for about 50 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly.

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