A Surprise! Raspberry Almond Cake with Buttercream Frosting
If there were ever a week to bake a yummy cake it would have to be this week. My home was visited by a bully of a virus, shingles. Seriously, shingles can be so mean. I had a mild case of it in May, and by June I was losing some hearing in my left ear. The wacky part of this whole story is that my husband came down with a rare form of shingles two weeks ago. His was a more severe case. That shingles is a right bastard, I tell ya. Oh, and for the record my husband and I are not in our eighties. I know you read shingles and then had a vision of me as an eighty year old. I’m not. I’m 35… Okay, I’m 38.
I made this cake twice because I had a hard time getting the checkerboard just right. I am still not quite there yet, but am pleased with the second look. It tasted very good, but I was a little disappointed with the raspberry cake (the pink checkerboard). It just didn’t taste like raspberry to me. I even put a half teaspoon of raspberry flavoring. Nope. Didn’t help.
Anyway, moral of the story- always have cake in your house because when shingles comes knocking on your door then, hey, at least you’ve got cake!
I used 6 inch, 4 inch and 2 inch cake rings
I baked two cakes on half sheet pans (one almond, one raspberry) then cut out circles when cooled
I alternated the colors
…To make a complete circle
Frost after assembling each layer
Alternate colors as you assemble as well
Then frost that baby! Here is the first coat of frosting
Voila!
- 2 sticks (227 g) Unsalted Butter
- 2 cups (400 g) Granulated Sugar
- 5 large Eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 3 cups (375 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 tsp. Salt
- 1 TBS Baking Powder
- 1 1/4 cup (300 ml) Buttermilk
- 3 to 4 drops of red food coloring
- 1/2 tsp. Almond Extract
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) Raspberry Puree
- 2 half sheet baking pans
- 1 stick Unsalted Butter
- 1/2 cup Crisco
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 7 cups (2 lbs.) Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup Milk
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line 2 half sheet pan with parchment and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 5 to 10 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times. Add the eggs, one a ta time, beating for 30 seconds at a time between each addition. Add the vanilla.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking powder. With the mixer on low, alternate additions of the flour mixture and the buttermilk. Using a large rubber spatula, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure the batter is well mixed.
- Divide the batter equally between 2 bowls. Add 1/4 cup of raspberry puree and a couple drops of red food coloring to one bowl, and 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to the other.
- Spread the raspberry batter on one parchment-lined half sheet pan, and the almond batter on the other.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched. Set aside to cool.
- In a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, mix together the butter, Crisco, vanilla extract and salt.
- Add the powdered sugar and milk a little at a time, alternating between the two.
- Set aside.
- Once the cakes are cooled, cut out two 6-inch circles, two 4-inch circles, and two 2-inch circles from each sheet cake.
- On a cake stand, carefully place a 6-inch circle of raspberry cake. Then gently add a 4-inch circle of the almond cake within the raspberry cake circle. Finally, place the 2-inch circle of the raspberry cake in the middle of the two cake circles.
- Now, top the circles with frosting, and begin the process again.
- Start with the 6-inch almond cake circle and place on top of the frosting. Add the raspberry 4-inch circle, finish with the almond cake 2-inch circle. Top with frosting.
- Continue this process until you've reached 4 layers.
- Once the layers are completed, frost and decorate the cake to your liking. Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- After it has chilled, cut a slice and be surprised by the interior. Then eat that slice, because it is darn good!
