Moist, sweet almond cake with tart sea buckthorn berries baked in – served atop warm vanilla bean custard, this is a sophisticated and  flavorful dessert. Serve with sea buckthorn wine or an ice wine.

Berries are our favorite fruits. In Mongolia, we have added a new berry to our culinary collection – sea buckthorn. With 15 times the vitamin C of oranges, it’s no wonder Mongolians have long sought out this berry for its healthful benefits! We found the berries we used in this cake in our local grocery store. We’ll be on the lookout for this hardy plant in the fall in order to harvest our own.

This almond cake lends itself to pairing with a tart fruit such as currants. I made a cranberry version earlier which I adapted for the sea buckthorns. The almonds and the almond extract give the cake a delicious base that would work with a number of flavors. The cake is delicious without fruit as well.

Sea Buckthorn Berry Almond Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup whole almonds pulverized to the consistency of coarse flour
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 3 eggs, well beaten
• 3 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tbsp dried orange zest or 1 tbsp fresh orange zest
• 2 cups sea buckthorn berries (or another tart berry like cranberry)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Mix in almonds.
4. Stir in butter, beaten eggs, almond extract, and orange zest.
5. Fold in some of the berries. Reserve some to sprinkle on top of cake.
6. Spread the batter into the greased pan.
7. Sprinkle remaining berries atop cake. Slightly press them into batter.
8. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean.
9. Serve warm with whipped cream, ice cream, or warm vanilla custard.