Kerrie Maloney: Supper for the Twisted Sisters(Sistas)

I love to bake, however, there is only so much cake etc that the man of the house can consume - he does his best, but the ladies at my knitting group are such an appreciative audience and there are more of them. Supper tonight is Raspbery, Lemon, Almond and Sour Cream Cake. This cake is very easy to make and can be made gluten free or not as you need. This is the cake mixture that I used last week for St Patricks Day, the ladies seemed to like it so much that I have made it again using the slice tin and the gluten free version.

It is a somewhat denser cake than usual as it does not have any raising agent. If you like a lighter texture substitute SR flour or add 2 teaspoons baking powder and use a deeper tin to allow for the cake to rise.
It can be made using the traditional creaming or beating method or if you are short on time in the food processor. If you use the food processor 'pulse' the almond meal and flour into the cake batter. I mostly use a deep slice/lamington/brownie tin when baking for this group as it easier to cut the cake into smaller pieces, perfect to pass around without the need for plates. It also works well for smaller cupcakes.

cupcakes just before the raspberries were pushed down and cakes baked

Raspberry, Lemon & Almond Sour Cream Cake

Ingredients

185 g soft butter

1 ½ cups castor sugar

4 very large or 5 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

finely grated rind and juice of 1 large lemon

½ cup sour cream

1 cup almond meal/ground almond

1 3/4 cups gluten free flour or 2 cups plain flour

1 cup frozen raspberries

Method

Beat/cream the butter, sugar vanilla, lemon rind and juice until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time and continue to beat.

Add almond meal and sour cream, mix well.

Stir in flour.

Spread mixture into a greased and lined cake pan. I use a deep slice/lamington tin.

Push frozen raspberries into cake mixture, evenly across the cake.

Bake at 150 deg C until golden brown and skewer comes out clean. *Approximately 1 hour

Remove from oven and allow the cake to stand for at least 10 minutes before taking the cake out of the tin and putting on a cooling rack. Cakes made with gluten free flour need to stand in order to become firmer and easier to remove from the tin.

When cool dust with sifted icing sugar or ice with frosting or icing of your choice.

*Baking time will depend on the size of the cake tin. If you make this into cup cakes it will take about 40 minutes. The deeper the tray the longer it will take.

Notes

1 Use your judgement about the amount of flour. The mixture should be a thick dropping consistency. If you think it is a bit too thick add some more sour cream or if a bit soft/runny add some more flour. I find I need less gluten free flour than plain flour.

2 Use other fruit of your choice such as tinned or poached apricots, plums or quince slices. Frozen blackberries and blueberries are also nice but discolour the mixture more.