Little Raspberry Frangipane Cakes

These little individual cakes are perfectly matched to the early summer sunshine, particularly with a pot of leaf tea to go with! I love frangipane and despite it sounding somewhat specialist it is actually an absolute doodle to make. In fact every element of these is both easy to source and easy to prepare. So really, there's no excuse not to crack on with making them!

Prep time: 20 Mins
Making time: 30-35 Mins
For the Sponge
125g Unsalted Butter (Softened)
125g Golden Caster Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1tsp Vanilla Extract
125g Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
150g Fresh Raspberries

For the Frangipane
100g Unsalted Butter (Softened)
100g Golden Caster Sugar
2 Egg Yolks
1tsp Almond Extract
100g Ground Almonds
25g Flaked Almonds

To the kitchen! Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line a 12 cup muffin tray with paper cases. In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs one at a time along with the vanilla extract. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix to a smooth batter. Spoon equally into your paper cases and press a few raspberries into the top of each (About 3 in each).

For the frangipane, cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg yolks along with the almond extract. Add the ground almonds, mix to a smooth paste, then spoon equally on top of the raspberry sponges. Using a teaspoon coax the frangipane around the raspberries to the edge of the sponge, then press into contact so they (sort of) encase the fruit. Scatter the flaked almonds over the top of each filled case and bake in the centre of the oven for around 30-35 mins, until risen and golden brown on top.

When you are happy the cakes are baked remove the tray from the oven and transfer each to a wire rack until cool. Put the kettle on and you are done. :-)