Sponge cakes are super easy to experiment with, from adding lemon to almond extract, or putting in fresh fruit, there are many ways to spruce up a boring sponge cake. I have found a combination of vanilla, almond and raspberry to work beautifully, especially in the spring and summer months.
The cake itself has a twang to it, thanks to the raspberries, which complement the sweet chocolate ganache perfectly. If you want to take it up a notch, you can also quickly whip up a homemade coulis with just three ingredients. This cake recipe is a firm favourite amongst friends and families, and it’s so easy to bake.
Ingredients:
For the sponge:
175 baking butter
175g golden caster sugar
Three medium eggs
100g self-raising flour
75g ground almonds
One teaspoon of vanilla extract
150g fresh raspberries
For the whipped ganache:
100g white chocolate
200ml double cream
Half a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
Half a teaspoon of glucose syrup
For the coulis:
200g fresh raspberries
50g caster sugar
A tablespoon of lemon juice
Method:
For the cake:
To start, preheat the oven to 180C or 160C Fan and line a 20cm (8”) cake tin with baking paper. To make the sponge, beat the butter and golden caster sugar until pale and fluffy, then add in the eggs and mix for a further minute.
Carefully fold in the self-raising flour and ground almonds, along with the vanilla extract, until the mixture is pale and combined. Then, fold in the fresh raspberries.
Put the mixture into the cake tin and then bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave to cool.
For the ganache:
It’s best to make the ganache ahead of time, as it does need around four hours to set in the fridge, or you could even make it the day before.
To make the ganache, break up the white chocolate and place it into a bowl before gently simmering the double cream, vanilla bean paste and glucose syrup on the hob. Once hot enough, pour over the white chocolate, let it sit for one minute and then stir to combine.
Once cool, place clingfilm over the bowl and put it in the fridge for four hours. After four hours, gently whip the ganache until it holds its shape.
For the coulis:
To make the tangy coulis, simply put the fresh raspberries, caster sugar and lemon juice into a pan until runny and then run it through a sieve to remove the raspberry pips.
I needed to add a cornstarch slurry into the coulis to thicken it slightly.
Assembling:
Place your cooled cake onto a stand or plate before generously spreading the whipped ganache onto the top, You can even put some fresh raspberries on top of the cake to pull it together.
I served the cake with a ramekin of raspberry coulis on the side so guests could decide how much they wanted.