Almond Berry Meringue Cake. Perfectly sweetened almond cake with an almond cream filling, topped with a brown sugar meringue, and finished with fresh berries. The ideal summer cake.
A few summers back, my husband and I were having some friends over for a cookout, and I wanted to make a summer cake. So, I googled, ‘summer cakes’. I did my normal Friday night routine: lay in bed and look at dessert on the internet. Well, that’s my old Friday night routine. My new Friday night routine is: lay in bed and edit photos of food.
But, in any case, I ended up finding this delicious looking BBC Blackberry and Almond Meringue Cake. I tried to change the metric measurements to US measurement and substitute what I had around my kitchen. I turned out fairly well, but I knew this cake could be so much more than what I produced that day.
I made multiple versions of that cake over the next few years. Actually, while thinking about this, I was looking back at notes I made during that process, and found one that said “No” on top of a recipe. I don’t remember that version, but apparently it missed the mark.
This past week was my in-laws anniversary. My husband and I wanted to have them over for dinner to celebrate. Whenever there is a celebration, I am self-appointed cake maker. Any excuse to make a cake….
My mother-in-law and I love dessert. My husband and father-in-law, not so much. I thought about this cake, and thought that since it doesn’t have frosting, and isn’t over the top sweet, maybe, just maybe the men would like it.
I decided the cake layers needed to have a touch of cinnamon, and be reminiscent of a coffee cake. I wanted the filling to be light, not too sweet, and bring out a taste of almond. And after recently making these Brown Butter Mud Hen Bars, I wanted the meringue to have brown sugar in it.
This cake was a winner. Everyone was a fan. Even my not so dessert loving husband and father-in-law said that this cake was a keeper. To hear them say those words, I feel as if I have achieved something grand.
Not only is this cake delicious, but it is EASY to make. Whoever invented the naked cake trend should be applauded. The meringue is baked in the oven on the cake, so all you need to do is throw in the filling and top with some berries. Five minutes of decor effort, and you have one beautiful cake to serve!
Almond Berry Meringue Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Meringue
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp sliced almonds
Filling
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/3 cup raspberries
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 1/3 cup blackberries
- 1-2 tbsp powdered sugar
Instructions
Cake Preparation
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two 8" pans with parchment paper. Spray sides of pans with baking spray and flour (or use Baking PAM).
- In base of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using handheld mixer, beat together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in two eggs and two egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition (put the 2 egg whites aside to use for meringue). Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
- In a cup, stir together milk and almond extract.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Alternate beating milk and flour mixtures into butter/egg mixture, starting and ending with milk mixture.
- Divide batter between the two prepared pans.
Meringue and Baking
- In the base of a stand mixer or a in a large bowl, use mixer with whisk attachment to beat the two egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Fold in sugar and brown sugar.
- Spread mixture evenly over one of the cake layers. Sprinkle almonds over top of meringue.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until top of cake without meringue is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Remove cake without meringue from oven. Continue cooking the cake with the meringue for an additional 20 minutes.
- Let cakes cool completely before removing from pans.
Filling
- Place a metal mixing bowl and the mixer's whisk attachment in freezer for at least 30 minutes.
- Place whipping cream in bowl and beat until stiff peaks begin to form. Beat in sugar and vanilla extract.
Assembly
- Spread filling evenly over the cake without the meringue. Spread about 2/3 of the berries evenly over the filling.
- Place cake with meringue on top of berries and filling. Decorate top of cake with remaining berries. Sift 1-2 tbsp of powder sugar over the top of cake if desired.
If you enjoyed this Almond Berry Meringue Cake, you’ll probably enjoy these other SugarSpicesLife recipes:
Hot Milk Cake
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake
Mini Fruit Pizza
Copycat Nutri Grain Bars