Raspberry Almond Layer Cake

This weekend we celebrated Chris's dad's birthday with a delicious dinner of leg of lamb from our lamb, and fresh asparagus straight from Chris's parents garden. I offered to make the dessert thinking I would use the opportunity to practice my cupcake recipe for the wedding, but then I decided I wanted to use all of the new tools I recently received at my bridal shower.

The Kitchen-Aid was actually a birthday gift from Chris and I love any excuse to bring it out!

To look for a recipe for a cake, I went to cooksillustrated.com, which is related to one of my favorite shows "America's Test Kitchen" and the magazine Cooks Illustrated. One quick little search brought me to the "Classic White Layer Cake with Butter Frosting and Raspberry Almond Filling - An All-Purpose Birthday Cake". Since my only guidence for this cake was "Anything But Chocolate", this seemed perfect.

The cake was delicious, it had a great almond flavor, with sweetness from the raspberry and frosting. The only thing I would do differently for next time is cut back slightly on the Almond Extract.

Recipe:

Cake-

2 1/4 Cups flour, plus more for dusting the pans (I used cooking spray with flour, so no dusting)

1 Cup whole milk, at room temperature

6 Large Egg Whites, at room temperature

2 teaspoons almond extract (slightly less for me next time)

1 teashpoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 Cups Granulated Sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

Frosting -

16 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

4 Cups confectioner's sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon whole milk (I ended up needing more to get right consistancy)

pich table salt

Filling -

1/2 Cup blanched slivered almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

1/3 Cup seedless raspberry jam

Directions:

1. Set oven rack in middle position and pre-heat to 350.

2. Spray 2 9-inch cake pans with non-stick spray, place parchment rounds on bottom of pans, spray parchment rounds, and dust whole pans with flour, tapping out excess (I used non-stick spray with flour)

3. Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts in 2-cup measure, mix with fork until blended

4. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter, continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs.

5. Add all but 1/2 Cup of milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 Cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Scrape down sides and beat another 20 seconds on medium.

6. Divide batter evenly between 2 pans, making sure batter is spread to sides and top is smooth. Arrange pans at least 3 inches apart and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 23-25 minutes

7. Let the cakes rest 3 minutes, loosen cake from sides of pan if necessary and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert and let cool completely, about 1 1/2 hour.

8. For the Frosting: Beat butter confectioners' sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed until sugar is moistened. Increase speed to medium-high, beat, stopping twice to scrape down bowl, until creamy and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Avoid overbeating

9. For the Filling: Combine 1/2 cup of frosting with the toasted chopped almonds and spread over the first layer. Carefully spread the jam on top, then cover with second cake layer. Spread frosting over top and sides of assembled cake. If enough frosting left over, pipe around perimeter of cake at base and top.

10. I added fresh raspberries and sliced almonds around the cake and a few on top for presentation.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it!