Amazing Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake ~ Perfect summer treat! Not too sweet!

I found the original recipe for this years ago in a Better Homes and Gardens publication. It was a mini cookbook called “Cooking for Today; Muffins & Breads". I've made it time and time again, tweaking it slightly along the way, and it never fails to impress and satisfy, so I thought I'd share the love. I've made it as a breakfast coffee cake, and as a dessert, and everyone loves it anytime of day. You can use fresh raspberries in it, but I honestly think frozen work out better in this. The time it takes them to thaw in the oven, helps them stay whole, while fresh ones tend to burst and turn into a mushy berry pile.

Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
1 C AP Flour
¼ C sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
½ C sour cream
¼ C butter or margarine, melted (go with butter, margarine is full of "stuff" you don't want to eat)
1 C fresh or frozen raspberries (Frozen work better than fresh here!)
2 T. brown sugar
1/3 C slivered almonds (optional)

Almond Icing: (optional)
½ C powdered sugar
1 tsp. milk
¼ tsp. almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease the bottom of an 8” round cake pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center. In another bowl beat the egg, sour cream, and melted butter or margarine. Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir till just moistened. (The batter will be dry and a bit lumpy.)

3. Spread 2/3 of the batter into the bottom of the pan. This will be a bit difficult as the batter is thick. I recommend using your fingers instead of a spoon/spatula, and breaking it up into chunks. Don’t worry if you see little bits of the bottom of the pan peaking through, it won’t matter.

4. Sprinkle on the raspberries and brown sugar. Try to get a light and even coating of brown sugar. I actually use my fingers to gently break up and sprinkle the sugar, so it's put down in a light even coat. Drop the remaining 1/3 of the batter, by small spoonfulls all over the raspberries. Sprinkle with slivered almonds, if using.

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

6. While it’s baking, prepare the icing. In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, 1 tsp. of milk, and almond extract. Stir till smooth. If icing is too thick, add ½-1 tsp. more milk.

7. Cool the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan, if desired. Drizzle with almond icing. Serve warm or at room temperature.