Almond, Lemon and Elderflower Cake with Saskatoon Berries

With a mound of sweet-tart Saskatoon berries and a layer of toasted almonds on a perfectly crumbly cake, this dessert is an impressive treat to bring to a summer picnic or serve for brunch.

Jen’s Almond, Lemon and Elderflower Cake with Saskatoon Berries helped her win Star Baker for Cake Week in Season 8 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Almond, Lemon and Elderflower Cake with Saskatoon Berries

By Jen Childs

Ingredients

Almond Cake:

• ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing pan
• ¾ cup (150 g) sugar, plus more to coat pan
• Grated zest of 2 lemons (about 2 tsp)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¾ cup (100 g) flour
• 1⅓ cups (133 g) almond flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• ⅔ cup plain Greek yogurt (0% to 2% MF)
• 2 tbsp elderflower cordial

Almond Cream Topping:

• ⅓ cup plus ½ cup (83 g total) sliced almonds, divided
• ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
• ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tsp elderflower cordial
• 1 large egg yolk

Saskatoon Berry Glaze:

• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 3 cups (600 g) frozen Saskatoon berries
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tsp powdered pectin
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp elderflower cordial

Marzipan:

• 1¾ cups (200 g) ground almonds
• 1 cup (200 g sugar
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp elderflower cordial
• 1 tsp almond extract
• White, yellow and green gel food colouring, as desired
• Icing sugar, for rolling

Preparation

Almond Cake:

Heat oven to 350 F with the rack in the middle position.

Grease an 8-by-3-inch round cake pan with butter. Line the bottom with a round of parchment, then grease it with butter, and dust the bottom and sides with sugar. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and nutmeg on medium-high until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, mixing thoroughly on medium-high after each addition. In a small bowl, stir together yogurt and elderflower cordial, then add it to the batter and mix on low speed to combine. Add the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes.

Almond Cream Topping: 

While the cake is baking, add ⅓ cup (33 g) almonds and sugar to the bowl of a food processor. Blitz until the almonds are finely ground. Add butter and salt and process until well mixed. Add elderflower cordial and egg yolk, and blitz until smooth.

Once the cake is baked, remove it from the oven, move the oven rack to the upper-middle position, and set the broiler to low (400 F).

Spread the almond cream on top of the cake and sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup (50 g) sliced almonds. Return the cake to the oven until nuts are well-toasted, 5 to 8 minutes, checking occasionally.

Cool the cake for 10 minutes in the pan, then loosen the edges with a paring knife, transfer to a wire rack and let it stand until slightly warm or fully cooled.

Saskatoon Berry Glaze:

Cook sugar, berries, water and pectin in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring often. Once the berries are thawed and the juice has come out, remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl to cool.

Increase heat to high and continue cooking the liquid until a candy thermometer reads 225 F. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and cordial. Pour about 2 tbsp of the glaze over the reserved berries and toss to combine. Cover the remaining glaze tightly with plastic wrap and set aside to cool.

Marzipan:

Place sugar, honey and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and cook until sugar is dissolved and mixture reaches a boil. Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the ground almonds to the bowl of a food processor and, with the machine running, slowly pour in the syrup. Pulse until the mixture comes together. Add the cordial and almond extract and process until smooth.

Remove about half of the mixture, then add white food colouring to the food processor and blitz until smooth. Remove most of the marzipan, leaving about one-quarter in the bowl, then add yellow food colouring to the remaining marzipan and mix until smooth. Remove yellow marzipan, then add the reserved uncoloured marzipan to the food processor and repeat with the green food colouring.

Wrap each colour of marzipan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Once cooled, roll the white to a scant ¼-inch thickness on a clean surface dusted with icing sugar. Use a small flower-shaped cutter to cut out 12 flowers. Repeat with the green and a leaf-shaped cutter. Roll the yellow into 12 tiny balls and press them onto the centre of each flower.

Assembly:

Place the cooled cake on a serving platter. Drizzle the Saskatoon berry glaze over the cake, then mound the berries in the middle, leaving some of the almond topping exposed around the edges. Place the marzipan flowers and leaves on top of the berries, evenly spaced out.

Makes one cake