Strawberry Almond Cake

This Strawberry Almond Cake is such a lovely little cake perfect for any time of the year, but especially wonderful during Spring and Summer when berries are in season. It's a simple one-pan cake that makes an excellent brunch as it pairs so well with coffee or tea. It is a tender, lightly buttery vanilla and almond cake made with a hint of orange zest and cardamom which adds the most intoxicating fragrance. A bit of almond flour gives this cake a soft and delicate crumb. You can make it with just a few simple ingredients! It is substantial yet delicate which is why I love it, and studded with fresh strawberries and then topped with toasted almonds and crunchy golden sugar. The combination of red fruit with almond is so delicious and the crunchy almond topping means you don't need any frosting. If you love this recipe, try my Raspberry Almond Cake too!

WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE

• Simple and easy recipe - this cake is super simple to make with minimal steps and basic ingredients.
• Soft texture - this cake has such a soft texture and fine even crumb. In the food industry, the technical term for such a soft texture is "short" because it breaks apart easily. It's the opposite of tough.
• Orange almond flavor - the wonderful aroma of orange, vanilla and almond with strawberries makes this cake so special.
• Cardamom spice cake - it's my secret ingredient! Cardamom with orange, almond and strawberries is a heavenly combination.
• Fresh strawberry cake - juicy strawberries add bursts of sweetness and delicious fruity flavor to complement the almond flavor which actually has notes of cherry.
• Crunchy almond sugar topping - this is such a nice contrast to the soft cake and the almonds get so nice and toasty on top!

INGREDIENTS FOR STRAWBERRY ALMOND CAKE

Here are some notes about the ingredients. For a full list of ingredients, check out the recipe card at the bottom of the page.

• Unsalted butter - butter adds incredible flavor and helps build some structure during the creaming step for a fine crumb texture. It is important that it is soft for this recipe so pull it out at least 2 hours before baking.
• Oil - this recipe has butter AND oil. Oil makes this cake texture soft since it is liquid at room temperature.
• Pure vanilla extract - vanilla will elevate the flavor. I like this Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract.
• Almond extract - this adds such a nostalgic flavor to this cake and almost gives it a holiday feeling. I really love the taste of almond extract with berries! If I could describe almond extract, I would say that it tastes like black cherries.
• Eggs - two large eggs will add nice structure and help with the soft crumb in this raspberry almond cake recipe.
• Orange zest - a hint of orange zest makes this cake so special! It pairs very nicely with strawberries and also almond.

• All purpose flour - regular unbleached all-purpose flour works great in this recipe, but if you have cake flour on hand, you can replace half all-purpose flour with cake flour and it will make an even more tender loaf. Adding too much flour is the most common mistake and leads to dry cake, so be sure to measure accurately using a scale or the spoon and sweep method.
• Almond flour - I use fine blanched almond flour for this recipe which has a finer texture than almond meal. You can also use almond meal and it will still turn out great.
• Cardamom - this is one of my favorite spices. It's floral, citrusy and I really love the combination of cardamom with strawberries alone, as well as cardamom with almond alone. This will blow you away!
• Yogurt - yogurt adds tanginess to this lovely cake which complements the tart raspberries. You can use plain full fat or Greek yogurt, but I do not recommend using fat free yogurt.
• Strawberries - you absolutely need fresh strawberries for this recipe since frozen strawberries lose most of their texture and color during baking and will compromise the texture of the cake.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

This recipe is simple to prepare and you can make it with an electric hand mixer, although using a whisk with some vigorous beating will work too!

• STEP 1). Combine dry ingredients. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly.
• STEP 2). Beat butter and sugar. Place the soft butter, oil, sugar and extracts in a large bowl and beat for 2-3 minutes using an electric hand mixer until pale and creamy.
• STEP 3). Beat in eggs. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• STEP 4). Mix in yogurt. Add the yogurt and mix it in.

• STEP 5). Add dry ingredients. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the wet mixture, then add the almond flour and fold it in gently with a spatula just until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thick. Do not over-mix at this point or the texture of the cake will be a bit firmer. We want it to be soft and tender to mix gently.
• STEP 6). Add strawberries. Very gently fold in the strawberries with just 3 or 4 folds. Do not over-mix.
• STEP 7). Add toppings. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out gently. Dot a few extra raspberries over top. Sprinkle flaked almonds and coarse sugar evenly on top.
• STEP 8). BAKE. Bake for 35-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer pan to a rack to cool 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on the rack. This cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

EXPERT BAKING TIPS

• Do not reduce the sugar. The right amount of sugar will keep this cake tender so do not try to reduce it.
• Sift the dry ingredients. In order to get a smooth batter and soft, light texture, it is important to break up any lumps in the flour. This will also help it hydrate more quickly into the wet ingredients and minimize the amount of mixing required to create a smooth batter.
• Do not over-mix. Just fold in the flour gently until well combined, but no need to mix vigorously. Just mix until no streaks of dry flour remain. Also, be gentle folding in the raspberries so that they don't bleed into the batter and turn it blue.
• Do not over-bake. This cake is ready when a skewer comes out clean and the sides are nicely golden.
• Choose fresh strawberries. Fresh strawberries will hold up better in the batter and won't leach juices which can discolor the batter. The cell structure of strawberries gets damaged during freezing and they lose all structure. Also, have you ever tried chopping a frozen strawberry? It's like chopping an ice cube!

RECIPE FAQ

If you love fruity cakes, check out these other recipes:

Creamy Raspberry Cheesecake (no Water Bath!) Light & Luscious Lemon Cake Sticky Toffee Date Cake Blueberry Peach Upside Down Cake Moist Lemon Blueberry Bread Maple Blueberry Coffee Cake

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