Raspberry Almond Layer Cake

All recipes are part of the Healthy Calendar adventure!.

Cake!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be the first to admit, a baker I am not, but this came out pretty damn awesome! I made this for Christmas in Vermont. This cake was exceedingly simple, even if it's not very pretty!

In an effort to make this easier for the baking-challenged such as I (even though I have a live-in pastry chef to bail me out of major disasters), the cake recipe was normal yellow cake mix with water, egg + egg whites, canola oil, unsweetened applesauce, and almond extract beaten in. I have come to learn that almond extract is amazing, and the almond taste increases the longer the dessert lasts!

After mixing, I split the batter in two and baked the halves. While the cake cooled after baking, I heated the sugar-free raspberry preserves filling so they would be easier to spread. I made Sean cut the cakes into layers, because my Jedi powers foresaw uneven catastrophe if I were to perform this task myself. Then I layered the cake and covered the fault lines on the top with powdered sugar!

I was supposed to use fresh raspberries as a garnish, but UNBELIEVABLY, I could not find FRESH RASPBERRIES in VERMONT on CHRISTMAS EVE. I know, I know, it's impossible to fathom, but it's true. End sarcasm.

Magnifique!

Sean convinced himself into believing this was a 'diabetic cake' and therefore he could eat however much he wanted. While I didn't ADD any sugar (other than the inch-thick layer on top....), whatever sugar originally existed in the cake mix was still there, so he was not entirely "safe". Regardless, it is still pretty good as far as cakes go, and dammit, even diabetics can risk stripping their blood vessels on Christmas!