Raspberry and Almond Upside Down Cake
Adapted from Donna Hay Issue 64 - The Entertaining Issue
5&1/2 cups (790g) of frozen raspberries, thawed and drained
1&3/4 cups (385g) of caster sugar
190g unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest
1 heaped teaspoon of vanilla extract (I use pure vanilla bean paste and favour Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, Inc)
3 eggs
2 cups (300g) plain flour, sifted
1&1/2 teaspoons baking powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon bi-carbonate soda, sifted
1/2 cup (60g) almond meal
1 cup buttermilk
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Line the base and sides of a lightly greased 22cm round cake tin with baking paper. I am not normally a "liner", I usually wing it, but I decided to line the tin when making this cake as figured the sticky topping could be somewhat of a disaster on an un-lined tin!
Once lined, cover the bottom of the cake tin with the raspberries (or your berry of choice) and then sprinkle half a cup of the sugar over the top. Set aside while you make the batter.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat together the butter, remaining sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract for 8-10 minutes or until pale and creamy. Scrape down the sides, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition to give the cake a good structure.
Sift the flour, baking powder and bi-carbonate soda over the butter/egg mixture and then add the almond meal and buttermilk. Beat on low speed until just combined then carefully spoon the mixture over the top of the raspberries in your cake tin. Smooth the top down with a palette knife and place the cake in the oven.
Bake for one hour, then cover the cake loosely with aluminium foil and bake for a further 25-30 minutes or, when tested with a skewer, it comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin at room temperature for 2 hours or until just warm, invert onto a serving platter or into a cake tin for storage.
Yield: 10-12 slices
