Raspberry Tea Cakes: Little Bites of Goodness

Here's the second recipe that I cooked from the latest Vegetarian Times; Raspberry Teacakes. They are actually supposed to be Red Currant Tea Cakes but red currants are hard to find around here so I used some organic raspberries instead. The magazine says: "These little cakes are based on the French "financier", a light tea cake made with almond flour and egg whites. Red currents add some tartness to every bite. You can also top the tea cakes with black currants, blueberries, or raspberries." 

Raspberry (or Red Currant) Teacakes

Vegetarian Times, July/August 2009

(Makes 12)

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar plus more for dusting

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup applesauce

3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 large egg whites

12 oz red currants, fruit pulled from stems

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray. Whisk together almond flour, all-purpose flour, confectioners' sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Stir in applesauce and butter. Beat egg whites in separate bowl with electric mixer 4 to5 minutes, or until soft peaks form. Gently fold one-third of whipped egg whites into flour mixture. Fold in remaining egg whites until completely combined. 

Fill each muffin cup no more than half full with batter. Top with several red currants. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until lightly  brown around edges. Cool 10 minutes before unmolding. Dust with confectioners' sugar to serve.

Per Tea Cake: 174 calories, 5g protein, 10g total fat, (2g sat. fat), 19g carbs, 8mg chol, 66mg sodium, 3g fiber, 10g sugars.

Notes/Results: A great little cake, moist, not too sweet but just sweet enough. The applesauce makes them moist and the whipped egg whites make them nice and light. I ground my own almond flour and didn't get it as smooth as store bought, but I think that added positively to the texture, giving it a nice crumb. They are perfect with a cup of tea, hot or iced. A keeper recipe, they would be fun to play around with by using different fruit on top, maybe adding some orange or lemon zest, or even lime zest and some toasted coconut.