Toasted Almond Pound Cake with Fresh Blueberry Sauce
CAKE
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp almond extract
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups sifted cake flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup sliced almonds, toasted, ground
- ¼ cup sour cream
SAUCE
- 4 cups fresh raspberries, divided
- 1/3 cup plus ¼ cup sugar, divided
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
Heat oven to 350⁰F. Grease bottom of 9×5×3-inch loaf pan with shortening; sprinkle with flour. In large bowl, beat butter at medium speed 1 minute or until smooth and creamy. Add 1 cup sugar; beat 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in almond extract and vanilla. Scrape down sides of bowl. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in ground almonds. Beat sour cream into batter at low speed. Continuing at low speed, beat flour mixture into batter with rubber spatula until completely blended. Spoon batter into pan. Level with spatula; tap pan firmly on counter to settle batter. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and edges of cake pull away from sides of pan. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Run knife around edges of pan; invert cake onto wire rack. Cool completely.
To make sauce, place 2 cups of the raspberries in food processor; process until pureed. Press through fine mesh strainer or pass through food mill using finest insert. Place puree in small bowl. Whisk in 1/3 cup of the sugar until blended. Whisk in lemon juice. In medium bowl, toss together remaining 2 cups raspberries, blueberries and ¼ cup sugar. Serve cake with berry sauce.