150g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
A few drops of almond essence or almond extract
50ml milk
150g self-raising flour, sifted
150g ground almonds
150g fresh or frozen raspberries, defrosted if frozen
25g flaked almonds
icing sugar, for dusting
Fresh raspberries and softly whipped cream, to decorate
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter the sides of a 20cm cake tin and line the base with a disc of baking parchment.
Cream the butter until soft in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Whisk the eggs and the almond essence or extract together in a small bowl for a few seconds or just until combined, then gradually add the eggs to the creamed butter mixture, beating all the time.
Next beat in the milk, then add the flour and ground almonds, carefully folding these in just until they are mixed. Add the raspberries and fold in gently so as not to break them up too much.
Tip the batter into the prepared tin, then scatter over the flaked almonds. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
Use a small, sharp knife to loosen the edges, then carefully remove the cake from the tin and leave on a wire rack to cool down completely before transferring to a serving plate. Dust with icing sugar. Serve with softly whipped cream if you wish, or decorate with fresh raspberries.