Recipe: Orange and Raspberry Almond Cake

"At this time of year I think the simplest of cakes are the most delicious," writes Mercy Fenton in her weekly column. "This moist flavoursome almond and orange cake is delicious, easy to make and will certainly feed a crowd. You can use frozen raspberries - but even better if you have fresh ones. Don’t be afraid the use lots of fruit, as it really disappears into the cake mix."

Ingredients

250gr butter

100gr soft light brown sugar

75gr caster sugar

5 free range eggs

Finely grated zest of one orange

Juice of ½ an orange

75gr ground almonds

275gr self raising flour

250gr raspberries. (fresh or frozen - but if frozen don’t defrost but separate if possible)

20gr Flaked Almonds

Method:

• Butter the sides and base of an 8 inch square tin. Line the base and sides with a sheet of parchment paper.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Pre heat the oven to 170 C for fan oven
• In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the butter, and sugars. Beat on high speed until light and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed.
• Add the eggs one at a time beating well between each addition until all the eggs are added. The mix may look slightly curdled, don’t worry once you add the flour it will come together again.
• Add the sifted flour and ground almonds in two stages, mixing in well each time.
• Add the orange juice and orange zest and mix well.
• Once the mix is smooth spoon half of the batter into the tin and spread evenly.
• Scatter the top with just over half the raspberries, then top with the remaining batter, spread evenly especially out to the edges- but try not to push the raspberries down into the mix.
• Place the remaining raspberries on top and finally scatter the top with the flaked almonds, place in the centre of the oven.
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until cooked through, if it starts to get too dark cover carefully with a little foil.
• Check with a skewer before removing from the oven.
• Allow to cool fully before removing from the tin.
• Serve a slice at room temperature, maybe with the addition of a spoon of Greek yogurt and a little raspberry compote.

Berry compote

This simple compote uses frozen fruit so is easy to make any time.

2 cups frozen raspberries

¼ cup sugar

Juice of 1 orange

1 tsp cornflour

Method:

• Put the fruit, sugar and orange juice in a medium sized pot and bring to the boil over a low heat (to allow the sugar to dissolve).
• Once it reaches the boil simmer gently for 30 seconds.
• Mix the corn flour with a little water and add to the fruit mixture. Simmer for another minute until the mixture thickens slightly.
• Once thickened remove from the heat and scrape into a clean container.
• This will keep well in the fridge for a few days, serve warm or at room temperature for best results.