Name: Raspberry White Chocolate Cake
Yield: 30
Ingredients: 430 g 15 oz plain (all-purpose) flour; 265 g (91/2 oz) caster (superfine) sugar; 3 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon fine salt; 125 g (41/2 oz/1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened; 2 large eggs; 375 ml (12½ fl oz/11/2 cups) full-cream (whole) milk; 125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) vegetable oil; 2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt (or sour cream); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste; 2 cups frozen raspberries; 2 tsp raspberry flavoring (optional); 1 cup Crushed freeze dried raspberries; 1 ½ cups white chocolate, shaved; 12 raspberry white chocolate macarons (optional); 2 batches Swiss meringue frosting; 1 cup freeze dried raspberries; 2 tsp raspberry flavoring; 8 drops pink food gel; 200g bright white candy melts; 100ml thickened cream

125 g (41/2 oz/1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

375 ml (12½ fl oz/11/2 cups) full-cream (whole) milk

2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt (or sour cream)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

12 raspberry white chocolate macarons (optional)

Raspberry White Chocolate Cake

Preheat a fan-forced oven to 140C (280F) or 160C (320F) for a conventional oven. Spray three 8” cake tins with oil spray and line the bottom with baking paper. Set aside

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large mixing bowl and mix together using a hand mixer until well combined. (Please note: to make the 6 layered cake in this recipe, you’ll need to make 2 batches of vanilla cake. All other recipes and measurements are enough to put the cake together and decorate it.)

Next add the softened butter and mix on low speed until mixture reaches a crumbly sand like texture.

Add the eggs, milk, oil, Greek yogurt, raspberry flavouring and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed until no dry ingredients are showing. Scrape down the bowl and mix for another 20 seconds. It’s at this point that you can add any additional flavourings or coloured gels to the batter.

Fill three 8” cake tins with batter. I find using an ice cream scoop to help me do this makes it easy to distribute the batter evenly so that everything bakes at the same time.

Sprinkle the frozen raspberries on top of each cake before you bake the cakes for 50-60 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If the pick comes out with wet batter, bake for a further 10 min at a time until fully baked. Allow the cakes to cool to room temperature inside the cake tins and then chill them in the fridge overnight. Chilling your cakes overnight makes them easier to trim and decorate. So I bake my cakes the day before I decorate them.

To trim your chilled cakes, use a cake leveler or large serrated knife to carefully trim the crust off the top of each cake before you trim each cake in half. You’ll end up with 6 layers of cake.

To crumb coat your cake, add a dab of frosting onto an 8” cake board or flat serving plate. Use a small offset spatula to spread the frosting around before adding the first cake layer. Gently press down the center of the cake layer to make sure it’s stuck to the frosting underneath.

Add frosting to a piping bag and frost a ring around the top of the cake. Fill the center with more frosting. Use your small offset spatula to smoothen out the frosting before you sprinkle white chocolate shavings then add the next layer of cake. Repeat with the remaining layers.

Add more frosting around and top and sides of the cake. Use the small spatula to smoothen out the top and sides of the cake, taking care to fill in any gaps in between each layer of cake.

Use a cake scraper (otherwise known as a bench scraper) to smoothen out the frosting on the sides and top. Get it as neat as you can. This should just be a neat, thin layer of frosting which is aimed at trapping any cake crumbs so that random bits of cake crumbs don’t show up on the final layer of frosting. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Add a final layer of frosting on the outside of the cake by repeating the process. Chill for 2 hours.

Add the chocolate to a piping bag or squeeze bottle and drizzle over the sides of the cake.

Add freeze dried raspberries around the bottom of the cake.

Fit the end of a piping bag with a Wilton 6b piping tip and fill with the white frosting you set aside earlier.

Frost two blobs of frosting on top of each other and repeat around the top of the cake. Sprinkle with shaved white chocolate. Finish with raspberry white chocolate macarons in the center if you wish. Alternatively, you can fill it with fresh raspberries right before serving.

Frosting

To prepare the frosting, set aside about 200g of it in a bowl and add all ingredients into the remaining frosting.

Mix in a large mixing bowl until well combined.

White Chocolate Drip

To make the white chocolate drip add the white candy melts and cream into a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave for 20 seconds at a time, mixing each time until smooth.

Life is difficult, & we don't always have the answers! For those times, we have cake.