Raspberry and White Chocolate Cake
The flavours of raspberries and white chocolate complement each other wonderfully in this special cake for Mothering Sunday.
2 x Mary Berry 20cm Sandwich Tins, buttered and base lined
225g butter, softened
225g caster sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
4 large eggs, beaten
225g self raising flour
100g white chocolate chips
175g fresh raspberries, cut into quarters
Filling and icing:
200g white chocolate chips
250ml double cream
Decoration:
Fresh raspberries
Freeze dried raspberries, optional
Meringue kisses
Fresh or crystallised edible flowers (not ones that have been sprayed with insecticide!) such as primroses, violets or violas
Icing sugar
Method:
Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour at the end to avoid curdling. Fold in the flour, white chocolate chips and raspberries. Divide the mixture between the two cake tins.
Place the cake tins on the oven grid shelf set on the baking oven floor for 30-40 minutes, until the cakes have risen, golden and cooked.
Let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes then remove from the tins and place on a cake cooling rack to go completely cold.
Meanwhile, make the filling and icing, a white chocolate ganache. Place the white chocolate chips into a bowl with 100ml of the double cream. Melt together on the warming plate or at the back of the AGA. When melted remove from the heat, beat together and cool for 15 minutes, then beat in the rest of the cream. This icing is easy flowing and will benefit being refrigerated for an hour before using.
Sandwich the cakes together with half the ganache and spread the other half on the top. Decorate with raspberries, meringue kisses and the flowers. Sift over icing sugar just before serving.
Tips:
If you don’t have a baking mode or oven (such as a traditional 2 oven AGA), place the cake tins on the grid shelf set on the floor of the roasting oven with the cold plain shelf slid above, on the second set of runners down.
Conventional cooking: Bake at 180°C, fan oven 160°C, Gas Mark 4.
Frozen raspberries could be substituted for fresh in the cake mixture.
Crystallised Edible Spring Flowers:
To make the decoration, choose some spring flowers such as primroses, violets or violas. Always check that any flowers you use are edible and organic (i.e. no use of insecticides).
Brush lightly over the petals with some egg white – a small paint brush is the best – then dip into caster sugar and put to dry out in a warm place, next to the AGA is ideal or placed on a cooling rack on the warming plate!
Dawn Roads
AGA Specialist