½ to ¾cupchopped hickory nuts - or pecans or hazelnuts
6beaten egg whites
Raspberry Filling
2cupsfresh raspberries
2tablespoonssugar
2teaspoonscornstarch
Buttercream Icing
2cupsconfectioners' sugar
⅓cupsoftened butter
1teaspoonvanilla
1tablespoonWhipping cream
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Beat egg whites in a medium bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Use your stand mixer (or a portable mixer) and beat until light and fluffy.
Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together (I do this over a paper plate or a piece of wax paper.) Combine milk, water, and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Add dry and liquid ingredients alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Stir in the chopped nuts. Fold in egg whites. Pour into 2 parchment or wax-paper lined 9-inch pans. (I used 8-inch pans and split the layers with a serrated knife.) Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
Raspberry Filling
Place raspberries in a Pyrex glass batter bowl and microwave 2 minutes on HIGH. Pour into a blender or food processor and puree. Strain out the seeds with a fine-mesh strainer (or leave them in if you want additional fiber.)
Combine raspberries, sugar, and cornstarch in the batter bowl and return to the microwave. Cook on HIGH till thickened, approximately 2-3 minutes. Allow it to cool.
Buttercream Icing
Cream powdered sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of cream. Gradually add remaining cream until frosting is smooth and spreadable. I had to double the recipe to cover the cake.
Split the layers in half horizontally if you used 8-inch cake pans. Spread filling on the top side of one layer and buttercream icing on the bottom of the next layer. See the picture. Do not push raspberry filling all the way to the edge as it will spread on its own. If you spread the filling too thickly or too close to the edge, the icing will end up oozing into your white frosting. Pink frosting is not gross but probably not what you want.