uncle gary is 33! ...again.

So it's a running joke in my family that the "middle-aged-folk" (i.e. my mom, aunt, and uncle) turn 33 each year instead of their respective ages. It's a long story, and we're weird, but if you're slightly interested, just watch "The Three Amigos", and watch for the scene of El Guapo's birthday. :)

So my uncle isn't really a fan of desserts...blasphemy, I know! But he comes from an English background, and they like bland things there, right? Who knows...maybe his genes are to blame. But anyway, I wanted to make him something non-chocolately since he doesn't like overly sweet things. Soooo, voila! Enter almond cake with raspberry whipped cream and white chocolate!

I've blogged about this almond cake before (see Sheila's Almond Cake for more details), but I jazzed it up a bit and made my own whipped cream for the center and top. Actually, I've never actually made my own whipped cream before...but anyway, after the cream was whipped to a fluff, I folded in raspberry preserves. The result? A not-too-sweet concoction of cream and raspberry deliciousness.

The sides of this cake were looking a bit bare, so I decided that some white chocolate chips would look lovely pressed against the sides. I don't think that my family enjoyed it that much, since a lot of them were scraped off onto the plate, but oh well. Can't win 'em all with white chocolate, right? :)


Whipped Raspberry & Almond Cake
Adapted from "Simple White Cake"...allrecipes.com

1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
4 tsp. almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk

Raspberry Whipped Cream
Adapted from "Raspberry Whipped Cream Truffle Cake"...epicurious.com

1 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. whipping cream, chilled
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
2 tsp. raspberry liquor
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
6 tbsp. raspberry preserves

about 1/2 cup raspberries, rinsed and dried
about 1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8-inch cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. Dust bottom and sides of pan with flour.

Prepare cake: in mixer bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in almond extract. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in milk until batter is smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until top is browned and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cakes from pans.

Prepare whipped cream: using an electric mixer, beat cream, powdered sugar, liquor, and vanilla in large bowl until very firm peaks form. Gently fold in raspberry preserves until evenly worked into the cream. Keep chilled until ready to assemble cake.

When cake is completely cool, place one layer on a serving dish, and spread half of the whipped cream over the cake. Top with second layer, and spread with remaining whipped cream. Press white chocolate chips on sides of cake. Top cake with raspberries.