Passionfruit & Raspberry Birthday Cake

Instagram: @bakedbyammna Hashtag : #bakedbyammna

So it’s my birthday today! And like nearly every year I do tend to bake my own cake.. mainly because if I have a craving I want that exact craving to be satisfied.. not just a little but exactly satisfied.. so I bake it myself .. the saying goes ‘ if you want to get it right, do it yourself’! (Or something like that right?! Lol).

So this year my craving was mainly for something a little more sour but sweet. Warm and exotic but still close to home.. so I decided to bake a buttery vanilla sponge cake in three layers with passionfruit curd, wild berries coolie and fresh raspberries. I covered the cake with white chocolate Swiss merengue buttercream, in various colours only to bring more brightness and ‘spring season’ into the home.

So here you have it guys, my 2021 6″ birthday cake – it does take some time to bake so I won’t lie and say it’s totally easy peasy – I mean each component separately is.. but it does take time to bake everything together. So give yourself plenty of time if you decide to give this a go – and trust me when I say .. you REALKY should give it a go!

Here’s how you bake it!

Instagram: @bakedbyammna Hashtag : #bakedbyammna

Instagram: Hashtag : #bakedbyammna

INGREDIENTS :

For the Butter Cake (this is for three 6″ cake tins, or two 8″ cake tins) –

▪ 3 Eggs

▪ 300g (1.2 cups) sugar

▪ 350g (1.5 cups) flour

▪ 2 tsp baking powder

▪ 150ml milk

▪ 50g butter (melted & cooled)

For the Passionfruit Curd –

6-7 passion fruits
Juice from 2 lemons
120 g sugar
50 g butter
1 tbsp corn starch (maizena)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks

For the wild berries coolie –

200g of wild berries (your choice, I used a mix of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries)
100g sugar
5 tbsp water
1 tbsp cornstarch

For the White chocolate Swiss merengue buttercream –

▪ 4 Egg Whites

▪ 120 g Granulated Sugar

▪ 250 g Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature And Cut Into Tablespoons

▪ 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

▪ 1 pinch Fine Sea Salt

▪ (Plus liquid gel colour for the design, if you want to add them)

Extra –

Handful of fresh raspberries (not necessary)

METHOD :

For the Butter cake –

Turn your oven on to 175C (350F) and line three 6″ cake tins (or two 8″cake tins) with baking paper.
In a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer, which on full speed the eggs and sugar until light in color and fluffy in texture.
In a separate brown whisk the flour and baking powder together and then sieve it into the sugar/egg mixture. On slow speed mix the flour until incorporated.
Take your melted butter and add the milk to it, whisk it a little then pour it into the batter. On slow speed incorporate the butter/milk until fully combined, making sure not to over whisk.
Then pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake tins and bake for 30 – 35 min, or until golden brown in color and a cake tester comes out clean.
Take out and leave to cool completely.

For the Passion Fruit Curd –

Slice the passion fruits and take out the insides, pour them into a saucepan along with the sugar, lemon juice and butter.
Turn the heat on medium to high (my highest is 9, so I had mine on 7). Whisk and take off the the heat when it starts bubbling. In small cup or bowl, take two tablespoons of the passion fruit mix and add in the corn star to and whisk until its fully mixed. In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolks and eggs and set aside until ready to use.
Take the passion fruit mix off the heat and pour through a sieve into a separate clean bowl. Pour in the corn start heat mixture and whisk until combined, then add in the mixed eggs.
Whisk altogether, and pour back into the saucepan. Bring the temperature to medium heat and keep whisking until it thickens up. (The way to check if it’s ready is take a wooden spoon and dip it into the curd, if it’s ready when you take the spoon out and run your finger along the back and it doesn’t run down fast, you know it’s ready!)
Once thickened, pour into a clean bowl and press plastic wrap or cling film ontop, and leave in the fridge to cool completely.

For the wild berries coolie –

In a small saucepan add the berries, sugar and water. Start off on high temp and let the berries breakdown. Once all smushed together, bring it to a boil. As soon as it starts bubbeling, bring down the heat and let it simmer for 10 min.

Whisk in the cornstarch and simmer for another 5 min. Then strain the coolie into a jar or glass, and keep in the fridge until completely cooled.

For the White chocolate Swiss merengue buttercream –

Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.
Place bowl over a hot water bath on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins).
Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch, approx. 5-10 mins).
Switch to paddle attachment.
Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.
Add vanilla,Whip until smooth. Keep aside in the fridge for covering the cake later.
If you’re deciding to color the buttercream as I have done, then evenly split the buttercream into separate bowls and just mix in with a spoon the desired gel color.

Assembly –

Take one cake layer and pour some of the passionfruit curd on, leaving roughly 1/2 inch space from the edges so it doesn’t fall off. Then drizzle some of the wild Berry coolie and add some fresh raspberries ( if you like).

Place second layer of cake ontop carefully and do the same. Add the third layer and then place into the freezer – yes freezer you read right – for 20 min. This is so that the passionfruit curd can stiffen and you can cover you cake easily.