Almond Raspberry Cake

I recently discovered that wheat & gluten don't agree with me, and my first thought was 'but cake! Noooooooooo!' (I really love cake) but I've been experimenting and gluten free vegan cake can be pretty good! I've even managed to make some incredibly fudgy brownies (I'll be posting the recipe next week) but today I'm sharing the recipe for these Almond Raspberry Cake.

Sweet, chewy almond sponge with a raspberry jam ripple & flaked almonds, finished with a drizzle of thick lemon icing. Perfect cold with a cup of tea or hot with vegan custard as a delicious dessert!

Almond Raspberry Cake

Serves 10

1 1/4C plain gluten free flour (Doves Farm or Bob's Red Mill are good!)

1C ground almonds

1C granulated sugar

1Tbsp baking powder

1 1/2C almond, rice or soy milk

1/2C vegetable oil

1Tbsp aquafaba

1tsp almond extract

2tsp apple cider vinegar

2Tbsp smooth raspberry jam

1/3C flaked almonds

for the icing

1C icing sugar

1-2tsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 175/350 and line a square cake tin with grease proof paper.

In a large mixing bowl mix the flour, ground almonds, sugar and baking powder until combined. Add the plant milk, oil, aquafaba, almond extract & vinegar and whisk together until the mixture is smooth.

Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a spatula. Create the raspberry jam ripple by piping jam stripes vertically over the surface of the cake and then run a toothpick or knife through each one horizontally over and over until you have lovely neat ripples (if that's too much hassle then you can just drop blobs of jam on the surface of the sponge mix and swirl them into the batter with a toothpick or knife) Sprinkle over the flaked almonds and bake for 35-40mins, until lightly golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Leave to cool completely in the tin. Once cool make the icing by mixing the lemon juice and icing sugar together. Spoon into a piping bag and drizzle evenly over the surface of the cake. Cut into slices or squares and devour!

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.