Preheat your oven to 170 Fan / 190 C / 375 F / Gas 5. Brush a little oil around the inside of an 8 inch (20 cm) loose bottomed or spring form cake tin and dust with flour, shaking out any excess
Cut a round piece of parchment to fit the bottom of the tin and place inside (I just draw round the outside of the tin and cut a little inside the circle!)
In a large bowl mix together the flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder, ground almonds and grated orange zest
In a smaller bowl or jug whisk together the orange juice, olive oil, vinegar and almond essence
Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry ingredients and gently mix together until just combined
Pour into your prepared tin then drop the raspberries evenly over the cake mix - it doesn't need to be a perfect pattern as they sink into the cake as it cooks!
Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour. Check the cake after 45 minutes by inserting a cocktail stick or skewer into the centre of the cake - it will come out clean if the cake is cooked. If it doesn't return to the oven for another 15 or so minutes, testing the cake again
While that's cooking, mix the maple syrup with the raspberry drops and once you've taken the cake out of the oven brush this syrup all over the top of the cake. Sprinkle over the optional flaked almonds
Leave to cool for around 15 minutes in the tin before carefully pushing up from the bottom of the cake (or releasing if you used a springform tin) and putting on a wire rack to cool completely
Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days
Notes
You can use fresh or frozen raspberries for this. If you use frozen just put on a plate to defrost while you mix the ingredients all together. They don't need to be thoroughly thawed to work perfectly in this cake.
Recipe by The Cook & Him at https://thecookandhim.com/recipes/raspberry-and-almond-cake/