These are the cakes of our life

I haven't had a completely useless year food-wise (though close to it). There have been cakes, and these are some of the nicer ones. The recipe for Andrew's birthday cake (white chocolate and raspberry mousse cake) is below. Just think, once the new kitchen is finished, I'll be able to bake 2 cakes at once. That's the stuff frosting-dreams are made of!

Chocolate Cake. Not sure why.
This is my go-to, never-fail,  rich,delicious and foolishly simple chocolate cake recipe. I must post that, actually. 

Andrew's Birthday Cake: White Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse

My friend Rosie's Birthday Cake
(in 2012 she shared her birthday with  the Queen's Jubilee Celebrations, so really, I had to do it!)

White Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse Cake

I made this cake in an attempt to recreate a cake Andrew had once bought me for my birthday (the final year of my PhD on a now infamous birthday which involved me having an epic melt-down of sobbing, snot-laden proportions). The cake was the one truly lovely thing about the whole day and neither of us have ever stopped thinking about how good it was (the cake that is, not the snot-covered PhD candidate). This is actually my first ever baking invention (not that I can claim to have invented the cake part - that's pretty much a basic vanilla genoise sponge) - and I was pretty happy with it. I actually soaked the sponge slices with vanilla syrup before putting the mousse layers on, but I wouldn't bother next time - the mousse provides more than enough flavour and moisture. 

Cake Recipe

4 Eggs

155g (3/4 cup) caster sugar

115g (3/4 cup) plain flour

35g (1/4 cup) cornflour

50g butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a round 22cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter to grease. Line the base and side with non-stick baking paper.

Beat together the eggs and sugar in a medium bowl until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is thick and pale (I actually did this in my food processor. Sift the flour and cornflour over the egg mixture and use a large metal spoon to gently fold until just combined. Add the butter and fold until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes or until the surface is dry and the cake springs back when lightly tapped. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Mousse Recipe

300g frozen raspberries, thawed

100g white chocolate, finely chopped

2 tbs boiling water

3 tsp powdered gelatine

250ml (1 cup) double cream

2 eggs

100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

To make the mousse, put the raspberries in the bowl of a food processor and process. Strain through a fine sieve over a bowl and throw out the seeds.

Put chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water. Stir for 5 minutes or until the chocolate melts and is smooth.

Place the water in a small glass and sprinkle over the gelatine. Stir until the gelatine dissolves.

Beat the cream in a medium bowl until soft peaks form.

In a different bowl and with a clean beater, beat together the eggs and sugar in a bowl until thick and pale.

Add the egg mixture to the melted chocolate and stir until just combined. Add the raspberry mixture and gelatine and gently fold until just combined. Add the cream and fold until just combined.

Line a round 22cm (base measurement) cake pan with plastic wrap, allowing the sides to overhang. Use a large serrated knife to cut the cake into 3 even layers. Place the top layer, cut-side up, in the lined pan. If you want, you can brush the sponge with liquor (raspberry vodka would be great I guess!) or sugar syrup (I used a simple vanilla sugar syrup). Spoon half the raspberry mousse over the top and smooth out. Repeat layering with remaining cake and raspberry mousse, finishing with a layer of cake.

Raspberry Jelly Topping

300-400g raspberries (fresh or frozen), thawed

Icing Sugar (to taste)

1 sachet of powdered gelatine

Process the raspberries until smooth, and then push through a sieve as before – discard the seeds. Put liquid in a pot and bring to the boil. Add enough sugar so that it is slightly sweetened, but still sharp (provides a good contrast to the sweetness of the cake). Boil the mixture down by about half so that it is concentrated, then sprinkle over the gelatine (while mixing!) – mix in thoroughly. Set aside to cool for a while – I actually left it about an hour. Then carefully pour over the top of the cake. It will seep down the sides a little bit but not too much if the cake tin is a good fit.

Place in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight to set. I wouldn’t cover it until the jelly is set, or you will get marks on the top.

If you want, you can decorate it with grated white chocolate. I made a basic runny icing which I smoothed around the sides of the cake (to give the chocolate something to stick to) and then sort of pressed finely grated white chocolate all around it. It was quite messy, but eventually coated it. I guess alternatively, you could make a vanilla buttercream and smooth that around it, or a white chocolate ganache J