As last Sunday was Mother's Day in the UK it was a perfect chance to make a cake (it was also an opportunity to make my grandma's birthday cake because after afternoon tea on her birthday we knew we would all be rather full!). After a long time deliberating over what to make I finally settled on a lemon and raspberry cake. I had been planning to make a naked cake for some time and decided this was definitely the look I wanted to go for and the decoration went from there. After making these decisions it was time to hop onto Pinterest for some inspiration and here is the finished product...
So without further ado, here is how I made this cake.
Ingredients You Will Need
For the sponge
-340g unsalted butter, softened
-340g caster sugar
-340g plain flour
-3 tsp baking powder
-6 large eggs
-The zest of 4 lemons and the juice of 1
For the icing (here are the measurements of the original recipe however, you can make the icing to your personal preference) -150g raspberries
-250g unsalted butter, softened
-750g icing sugar
-Splash of milk
-Food colouring
Decorations (again this is down personal preference)
-Flowers
-Macarons
-A dusting of white chocolate
Preheat the oven to 180oC / 160oC Fan / Gas Mark 4 (I tend not to use fan for cakes however, it is up to you). Grease and line three 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment; it is best to do this first in order to do the boring bit first. If you only have one or two tins you will need to do the baking in batches.
Beat together the sugar and butter with an electric whisk/stand mixer until they are light coloured, smooth and creamy. I did this for 5 minutes which seems like a long time but is recommended. Beat in each egg thoroughly, one by one. If the mixture starts to split, just add a tablespoon of flour and continue beating – this will bring the mixture back together.
Add the flour and the baking powder and fold into the mixture using a silicone spatula or metal spoon, making sure to mix any flour that ends up at the bottom of the bowl. Be gentle to not knock out all of the air you have just added.
Fold in the lemon juice and zest, and then divide the mixture evenly between the three tins; my mixture divided into roughly 3 lots of 466g. Smooth out the surface of the sponge mixtures and bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes (keep an eye on it from 20 minutes), or until a skewer comes out clean when poked into the center of the sponge.
Remove the sponges from the oven and leave to cool on wire racks.
To prepare the raspberry icing take 150g of the raspberries and force them through a sieve with the back of a spoon into a large bowl. Add the butter and beat with the raspberry juice using an electric hand whisk until soft. You may want to start off using a fork to avoid raspberry juice flying everywhere. Gradually add the icing sugar and continue to mix, adding a splash of milk if you need to loosen the mixture.
How I assembled the cake-Place the first sponge on the cake stand, board or turntable. Fill a bag with a 1/3 of the icing and use a large round nozzle to pipe ‘blobs’ of the icing around the sponge. Place the second layer on top and gently press down but make sure not to ruin the shape of the icing underneath. Refill the piping bag and repeat the piping pattern on this sponge. Take the third sponge and ice the last third of the icing onto the top smoothing it down to make a neat finish. Carefully place the final layer on top of the cake.
Now that the main body of the cake is assembled it is time to decorate. Place fake flowers onto the center of the cake using a small bouquet type shape to go in the middle. I bought fake flowers from a specialist shop. You can use real flowers however, be careful where you source them from as a lot of florists and flower suppliers will have sprayed the flowers meaning they could be harmful. Around the flowers place macarons, placing them upright on the icing. I made these macarons myself (I will do a separate post about how to make them) however, shop bought macarons will do the trick just fine too. Place single flowers in between each macaron, pushing them in gently so that they blend with the other flowers.
Using any remainder icing to secure them, place macarons about the base of the cake and grate white chocolate over the entire cake to finish it off.
And there you have it, one beautiful mother’s day cake (suitable for many other occasions!). Please feel free to ask me any questions in the comments below.
Enjoy! x
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