Almond-Raspberry Cake - by Summer

We're back!  It was so nice to have the summer off, but I have been itching to get back to baking!  It was super hot here in MN, so I was glad that I didn't have to turn on the oven for a few weeks, but now it's September and that means fall, right?

To kick off Labor Day weekend, I decided to try the Almond-Raspberry Cake.  It's the end of berry season, but I thought we could sneak one recipe in!  This is a very easy little cake to make.  The only ingredients that I needed to pick up were the almond paste and raspberries.  The recipe calls for 7 oz tube of the almond paste, but my grocery store only had cans that were 8 oz.  No problem - I just used my kitchen scale and scooped out 1 oz and then used the rest of the can.

We also had a choice of vanilla or almond extract, and I opted to go with almond.  I have it on hand and vary rarely use it, so I thought this would be perfect.  The smell of the batter is unmistakeably almond, that's for sure.

It baked up in 35 minutes, although the edges looked a little dark.  I am worried it baked too long and I probably should have checked it about 2-3 minutes sooner.  The middle looked light, but it was most definitely done.

We all loved this cake.  It actually seemed to taste better after letting it sit wrapped in plastic overnight.  Even though I thought I might have over-baked it, wasn't dry at all.  My mom thought it tasted like a shortbread cake.  I would definitely make this again.  It was easy and very tasty.  Although next time I might try adding a glaze over the top (my dad's suggestion).