Marzipan Berry Basket Cake
Almond-y loaf cake with berries or cherries, jam, and cream
There are so many things to love about June, but the best things for me are the warmth (yes, the temperature, but the warm golden light, too), all the late-spring produce–including my favorite sweet peas (stuffed into nearly all sandwiches and salads)– and, of course, the berries.
With all the green, long days, and warm weather, I think the most sublime way to spend a day is outdoors (probably with friends), enjoying strawberries straight from the blue cardboard farmers market basket. If you are also inspired by this special summer moment–and fancy yourself a little bit of a baking project–I suggest this delicious berry basket cake.
What I love about this cake is that it really is just an almond loaf cake, but the aesthetic twist turns it into a berry ‘basket’. This cake is also deceptive in how much harder it looks to make than it is. In fact, the decoration is far less time-intensive than a layer cake. You take your loaf cake, add a layer of jam and marzipan, top with your berries and handles, and it’s done! All in all (according to my video recordings), it’s about 20 minutes of active decorating, though there is a fair amount of baking and cooling time (it’s inactive time, but be sure to allot for it).
The cake is a simple loaf cake adjusted to include marzipan (which took nine trials to get just right, but was so worth it because it adds that delicious almond-y flavor and creates the fluffiest, moistest, hefty-yet-tender crumb I’ve ever had in a loaf cake). You can add whatever jam you prefer, and then a blanket of marzipan mimics the linen in a basket as delicious fresh fruit spills out over the top. Marzipan pairs so well with so many summer fruits. Resident recipe cross-tester, Cara, noted how great this would be with other stone fruits and blueberries later in the summer. I 100% agree.
More marzipan-forward recipes:
Serve this alongside some whipped cream, and you have the best combination of all time: berries and cream (the light, vanilla-scented whipped cream perfectly complements the sweet-tart-punchy jam and fresh fruit), plus a plush-moist-marzipan-y loaf cake.
Makes 1 Marzipan Berry Basket Cake
