Easy German Raspberry Cake Without Flour – Oma's einfache Himbeertorte

by: Gerhild Fulson  / Oma Gerhild shares easy, authentic German recipes you can trust, rooted in family tradition and featured in her cookbooks.

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An EASY raspberry cake, aka Himbeertorte??? Something that's so delicious, so scrumptious, so delectable and so pretty ... just can't be an easy recipe, can it? Or can it?

An EASY raspberry cake, aka Himbeertorte??? Something that is so delicious, so scrumptious, so delectable and so pretty ... just can't be an easy recipe, can it? Or can it?

Well, if it's this delicious cake from my dear German friend, Heidi, then yes. It's ALL that! Heidi, who is a fantastic baker, likes to take cake recipes and change them to suit her style. This one is a perfect example of this. And it's not just easy, it's VERY easy! Really. And it's even gluten-free, using very few ingredients.

This is such a great example of a traditional German torte, one of the best cakes for special occasions or even a Sunday afternoon Kaffeeklatsch with family and friends. It's absolutely perfect when you have fresh raspberries available, however using frozen fruit works as well. Other fresh fruit will work as well, but you'll need to read my info on using them below.

My cake layer is made with ground hazelnuts. Oh, that was so delicious. Hazelnuts are difficult to find here, but when I do, they make a wonderful cake.

Heidi's recipe calls for using ground almonds. Because of that, her cake layer is much lighter in color. Here's the very first time I had a piece of her cake. As soon as I tasted it, I knew I NEEDED that great recipe!

Here Heidi used a combination of raspberries and blueberries.

Above, you'll see that Heidi's looks different than mine, but not just is the color of the cake, but in the raspberry cake filling as well. She used frozen raspberries and frozen blueberries (a Canadian addition). The fruit has been thawed and well drained before being put on the whipped cream layer.

Heidi's original recipe, using the almonds, comes from the "Kochbuch der Frauengemeinschaft Wettrup" and is subtitled "Freude beim Zubereiten" meaning "Joy while preparing".

What kind of Fruit to Use?

There's a reason one uses raspberries for this. Well, maybe two reasons. The first is that it tastes heavenly. The second is that it allows one to easily cut the cake.

Yes, those berries are sitting on top of a whipped cream layer. It has stability due to the stabilizer, nevertheless, it's still just whipped cream. If you have a firm berry, such as a blackberry, it is be difficult to make nice slices.

For Heidi's cake above, she used frozen raspberries and blueberries. She thawed them and drained them very well to remove as much juice as possible. She used the juice to make the glaze. The cake slices well.

Take a look at my latest one below, that I used frozen raspberries and frozen blackberries, thawed and well-drained. It worked as well, BUT, I struggled to get nice looking slices because the blackberries didn't cut through easily. They squished out as my knife came to them.

Oma's Raspberry Torte recipe is SO very easy ... and pretty ... and super delicious.

So, using soft fruit is needed. Soft when fresh or frozen. For me, it'll be just raspberries from next time. However, I'd love to make this as a strawberry cake, but I'd only try that using thawed frozen strawberries so they would be softer.

Hmmm ... but I do like the raspberry flavor. Perhaps I'll have to make both!

Blueberries work well since they are small berries and push aside easily when cutting, I'd probably put more than one layer of blueberries on to give the cake some height.

How to cut This Torte?

You'll see in my first cake at the very top, when using the fresh berries, the cake layers are nicely separated. There are distinctive cake, cream, and fruit layers. It cuts nicely, keeping those layers.

For Heidi's cake using the frozen berries, you'll see that the berry juices are running down into the whipped cream layer. Still tastes absolutely amazing. This happens for two reasons.

1. If the cake is kept refrigerated overnight, those juices from the thawed berries bleed into the cream layer. Still amazingly delicious.
2. When you are cutting the cake in a normal way, the knife will actually 'push' those juices into the cream layer.

If you're wanting distinctive layers, you'll need to serve the cake the same day it is made and cut it differently. You'll need to insert your knife right into the middle of the cake so it is perpendicular to it. Then using very small up and down motions, cut towards the edge of the cake. That way the knife doesn't 'push' those juices into the cream and the cake will have distinctive layers.

It was cutting the cake using a perpendicular knife that caused my blackberries to be squished out the end. LOL ... but you know, no one complained. Instead, everyone still wanted seconds.

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What nuts to Use?

You'll see by the difference in the torte colors, that Heidi and I used different nuts. I used ground hazelnuts in my first photo above and she used ground almonds. Both delicious, yet slightly different in taste.

In my last photo, I used ground almonds. Which is better? Hmmm ... I like both. Which would you prefer?

I'm actually thinking that next time I make it, I'll add a bit of almond flavoring to the ground almonds. That will amp up the cake layer to taste almost like marzipan. (I have a soft spot for marzipan!)  I think that would taste so heavenly.

How to make This Raspberry Torte

Here's a quick look-through of the main steps in making this. You'll see that I use a cake-ring instead of the springform outer ring when I assemble the cake.

Step-by-step, this is an easy torte to make!

Wouldn't this be the perfect dessert to make for Mother’s Day or Valentine's Day?

I can see it being made in a heart-shaped pan and sitting on a pretty cake stand. :)

Ready for this Himbeertorte?

Print Recipe

Easy German Raspberry Cake Without Flour – Oma's Einfache Himbeertorte

An EASY raspberry cake, aka Himbeertorte? Something that is so delicious, so scrumptious, so delectable and so pretty ... just can't be easy, can it? Or can it?

Well, if it's this delicious cake from my dear German friend, Heidi, then yes. It's ALL that! Heidi, who is a fantastic baker, likes to take recipes and change them to suit her style. This one is a perfect example of this. And it's not just easy, it's VERY easy! Really. And it's even gluten-free.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Bake Time 25 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings:

Makes 10 - 12 servings.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature 
• 7 ounces (198 g) ground nuts (hazelnuts or almonds)
• 1⅔ cups (400 ml) heavy (whipping) cream
• 2 pouches DR. OETKER Whip It 
• 2 tbsp (26 g) granulated sugar, or to taste
• about 1½ lb (680 g) fresh raspberries 
• 1 cup (240 ml) red juice
• 1 pouch DR. OETKER Red Glaze

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C). Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by greasing it or using a cooking spray and then line bottom with parchment paper and set it aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix the sugar and eggs until they are frothy with an electric mixer. Fold in the ground nuts gently with a rubber spatula. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared springform pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool thoroughly.
4. Remove the cake from the pan. Place the cake on a serving plate and return the outer ring of the springform pan around the cake.
5. In a medium bowl, whip the cream with Whip It according to package instructions, adding sugar once peaks start forming. Spread the whipped cream on top of the cake.
6. Place raspberries over the top of the whipped cream.
7. Prepare the Red Glaze with the juice according to the package instructions and pour over the berries.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for about 2 hours.
9. Run a knife around the sides of the cake to loosen the from the outer ring of the springform pan. Carefully lift the ring off and serve.

Hints:

• You can use thawed, very well-drained frozen raspberries.
• Use the drained juice from the raspberries to make up the 1 cup of juice needed for the glaze. If you don't have juice available, use water with some lemon juice and white sugar added.
• If you use another berry, aim for soft ones, or small ones. Something that will allow themselves to be cut when slicing the cake.
• Sweeten the whipped cream with powdered sugar or granulated sugar if you are wanting a sweeter filling.
• To level the whipped cream, use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
• If you're wanting the add extra flavor to the cake base, you could add some almond or vanilla extract or some lemon zest.
• If you're wanting to amp up the raspberry flavor, you could brush some seedless raspberry jam over the cake layer before adding the whipped cream filling.

*  *  *  *  *

Unless otherwise noted recipe, images and content © Just like Oma | www.quick-german-recipes.com

10.25.2021 revision update

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Hi, I'm Oma Gerhild! As a food writer and cookbook author, I'm always looking to find ways to pass on my German heritage using local ingredients. Quick and easy. That's my goal. Wunderbar food. That's the result.