Raspberry & Almond Crunch Cake

As much as I love chocolate cakes, it's always good to have a recipe for lighter cakes. I love this recipe for Raspberry and Almond Crunch Cake since it's really quick to make, and can be enjoyed straight from the oven.... no waiting around or having to make it look pretty with icing. 

For the crunchy topping: 

• 35g unsweetened dessicated coconut
• 25g ground almonds
• 15g flaked almonds
• 1 tbsp Keen almond butter
• 1 tsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp melted coconut oil

Mix all the ingredients together until well combined and forming a crumbly topping. 

Set aside until needed.

For the cake:

• 6 eggs, separated
• 75g butter, melted
• 2 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 90g ground almonds
• 25g unsweetened dessicated coconut
• 2 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 60g raspberries, fresh or frozen is fine

Preheat oven to 160d (fan). 

Whisk egg yolks with melted butter, 1 tbsp of the honey, vanilla and lemon juice/zest until doubled in size and pale in colour. 

Fold in ground almonds, dessicated coconut and baking powder. 

In a large clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until opaque and forming stiff peaks. Add 1 tbsp of honey and whisk until combined. 

Fold beaten egg whites into the egg yolk mixture gradually. Adding 1/3  of the whites at a time makes it a lot easier to fold into the mixture. 

Finally stir the raspberries into the mixture, and pour into 8 inch square cake tin.

Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the cake.

Bake for 25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake. If you find after 15 mins that the cake is browning too quickly, lower the temperature to 150d (fan), and place a sheet of baking paper loosely over the cake to prevent burning. 

Once baked, you can serve warm, or allow to cool. I recommend warm, but it tastes great either way.