Almond Cardamom Pound Cake with Raspberries

For the pound cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.

2. Butter a standard 9×5″ loaf pan. Next, line the bottom and sides of the pan with a strip of parchment paper, with some overhang on two sides (you’ll use that as a handle to remove the cake from the pan once done). Butter the paper. Set aside.

3. In your mixer bowl, add room temperature butter and vanilla sugar. Beat together with a paddle attachment until it is completely creamed, fully incorporated, light, fluffy, increased in volume, and very pale in color. This should take about 5-7 minutes on medium speed.

4. While your butter/sugar is creaming, in a separate bowl combine eggs, vanilla and almond extract. Whisk together.

5. In yet another bowl, sift together your flour, cardamom, baking powder and salt.

6. Once butter mixture is creamed, slowly drizzle in the egg mixture, stopping and scraping down sides and bottom of bowl. Mix together on medium-low until fully combined.

7. Next, on a slow speed alternately add in your dry sifted ingredients with your room temperature milk. Stop and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl. Mix again until JUST combined. Do not overmix.

8. Now with a spatula, hand-fold in the almond meal and your fresh raspberries.

9. Pour batter into your prepared loaf pan, smooth the top, and bake approximately 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out with a few crumbs. Remove it from the oven and let it cool until room temperature before icing.

For the almond glaze:

1. Whisk together all of the glaze ingredients. You’re looking for a thick consistency, but one that is pour-able (like pancake batter). Too thick? Add a tad more milk. Too runny? Add more powdered sugar.

2. Drizzle, pour, spoon or hand throw your icing onto the top of your cooled cake. Gently push some off the sides to get that drizzled effect. *Drool*

3. Let the glaze set up about 5 minutes, garnish with remaining handful of berries and slice it up!

Recipe Adapted from CountryLiving.com “Pistachio-Cardamom Poundcake.”