Organic Raspberry Almond Torte
Organic Raspberry Almond Torte is not a true torte, but rather a cross between a decadent dessert and a warm and cozy coffee cake. I bake this cake in the winter using fresh-frozen raspberries and in the summer using freshly picked raspberries. For tips on fresh-freezing berries, read below... Another tasty variation is to use fresh Alpine Strawberries in place of the raspberries.
Caution: I have tried this recipe with the standard grocery store variety of strawberries and failed miserably. Standard strawberries have too high of a water content and their flavor is not concentrated enough.
If you have never grown Alpine Strawberries, you may want to try these easy to grow delicate berries. Visit my website for tips on growing Alpine Strawberries. Save yourself from pesticide pollution by using organic raspberries which are difficult to find unless you grow them yourself. If you have the space, growing raspberries is about the easiest thing you can do, if not visit a Farmers Market to find an organic grower.
1/2 cup whole almonds, unsalted
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons organic butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 large fresh organic eggs
1/2 cup organic flour
1 cup fresh organic raspberries or organic alpine strawberries
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a round 7" - 8" quiche dish with organic extra virgin olive oil or butter. Lightly dust dish with flour.
In a food processor, finely grind almonds with sugar and salt. Add butter, vanilla extract, almond extract and eggs; process on pulse until throughly mixed. Add flour using short pulses until just mixed. Do not over mix!
Pour batter into quiche dish and smooth with a spatula. Add berries onto of batter, pushing berries lightly down into batter. Bake 20-30 minutes, until brown and center is down. Serve warm for brunch, after snowshoeing or for dessert.
Tip: Fresh freezing berries during the summer when berries are plentiful and inexpensive is easy as 1-2-3:
Caution: I have tried this recipe with the standard grocery store variety of strawberries and failed miserably. Standard strawberries have too high of a water content and their flavor is not concentrated enough.
If you have never grown Alpine Strawberries, you may want to try these easy to grow delicate berries. Visit my website for tips on growing Alpine Strawberries. Save yourself from pesticide pollution by using organic raspberries which are difficult to find unless you grow them yourself. If you have the space, growing raspberries is about the easiest thing you can do, if not visit a Farmers Market to find an organic grower.
1/2 cup whole almonds, unsalted
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons organic butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 large fresh organic eggs
1/2 cup organic flour
1 cup fresh organic raspberries or organic alpine strawberries
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a round 7" - 8" quiche dish with organic extra virgin olive oil or butter. Lightly dust dish with flour.
In a food processor, finely grind almonds with sugar and salt. Add butter, vanilla extract, almond extract and eggs; process on pulse until throughly mixed. Add flour using short pulses until just mixed. Do not over mix!
Pour batter into quiche dish and smooth with a spatula. Add berries onto of batter, pushing berries lightly down into batter. Bake 20-30 minutes, until brown and center is down. Serve warm for brunch, after snowshoeing or for dessert.
Tip: Fresh freezing berries during the summer when berries are plentiful and inexpensive is easy as 1-2-3:
- Pick or purchase firm fruit. Fresh freezing works well for any berry including blueberries, raspberries, logan berries, strawberries and marion berries.
- Move any damaged fruit and rinse and drain throughly in a colander.
- Place rinsed fruit on large, heavy cookie sheets and freeze until frozen. Carefully remove from the cookie sheet and bag in freeze zip-lock bags. Label and place in a freezer.
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