Cake # 49 Frosted Raspberry Almond Ring

Finally December! As a kid, my favorite holiday was always Easter. I loved everything about it. Dyeing my fingers and my clothes more than my beloved "eggies" as I called them, trying to find more eggs than my twin brother, and most importantly, eating jellybeans. Believe it or not, the regular flavored, regular sized jellybeans (preferably from Wockenfus) are still my favorite candy of all time. Yes-- that does include the black ones, and I have always wondered why licorice is given such bad cred- really what's not to like? Sweet and bitter favors all in one chewy bite-- yes please! However, now that I am getting older, and I have a child (soon to be two!) of my own, my heart has followed my husbands, (and probably most of America's) and switched to Christmas as my favorite holiday.

Wrapping my daughter's presents from "Santa" and "Rudolf" and "An Elf" is what makes this holiday so special for me. All of our family traditions, old and new, coming together with a kid who is finally old enough to get excited herself-- well you can't ask for more than that. So because it is the first weekend in December, I am beginning the first of four of my holiday cakes.

This cake, the Frosted Raspberry Almond Ring, does not only scream winter in its flavors, but also in its colors. The topping of the cake is "frosted" with homemade marshmallow, which was my first experience in making marshmallow. To make a marshmallow topping you need, 1 extra large egg white, 1 1/4 cups of confectioners' sugar, 1 tbsp of dark corn syrup, and 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar (which if you didn't know is basically a compounded acid in order to help egg whites stiffen up). Since I do not have a double broiler, I do what many a moms have done before me and heated up a pot of water and stuck a bowl on top of it. Next, you mix all of the ingredients with a hand mixer over the hot water until the mixture can stand on its own and takes a more sticky consistency. The marshmallow came out perfectly, and tasted -- well just like melted marshmallows!

The rest of the cake was fun for me to make as well, because I love raspberries and I got to mash about a cup of raspberries to put them into the cake. The cake was also made of butter, flour, sugar, eggs, almond extract, and baking powder. Then after frosting the cake with the marshmallow topping- I added more fresh raspberries and slivered almonds.

Here is the book's cake:

Here is my cake:

All that is left is to have my two most favorite people in the world, (besides Lucille Ball and Jane Austen) Ted and Evalyn to try a bite! Tune in next week for more holiday baking!