There is absolutely no doubt that i love chocolate. However sometimes, and this has been happening quite often lately, I love the tartness of raspberries. And I ended up making raspberry curd for the first time, and then went on to use it and make a mousse. Eventually it just turned into a cake with 9 layers! And I didn’t stop there.. i decided to cover it in Swiss merengue buttercream and give it a little Ammna design flair… and well here you have it! My Summery Pink Cake ! It does take a little time to bake, but all the components are VERY EASY! So don’t get distracted by the looooong list of steps and ingredients below! 🙂 give it a try because it tastes like a dream! 🙂

Here’s how you bake it!

INGREDIENTS :

Vanilla Sponge –  

• 4 eggs
• 150g sugar (3/4 cup)
• 1 tbsp oil, vegetable or olive oil ( I used sunflower oil)
• 2 tbs buttermilk (if you don’t have access to buttermilk make it yourself – 2 tbsp milk combined with 1 tsp lemon juice)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g flour (1 1/3 cup)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Pistachio Dacqouise – 

• 120g pistachio, coarsely crushed
• 90g almond flour
• 150g icing sugar
• 200g egg whites
• 50g sugar

Raspberry Curd –

• 8 tbsp butter
• 312g (2 1/2 cups) fresh or frozen raspberries (I used frozen)
• 6 medium egg yolks (you can save the egg whites for the Swiss merengue buttercream)
• 150g (3/4 cup) sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Raspberry Mousse Layer – 

• 200g of the raspberry curd (ingredients below)
• 55g sugar
• 250ml whipping cream
• 3 sheets of gelatine , silver grade – I use Halal gelatine and buy it from here –> Click Here
• 1/2 cup fresh raspberries (optional)
• 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, sliced in halves (optional)

Swiss Meringue 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 flowers, if you want to decorate)  

METHOD :

Vanilla Sponge – 

1. line two 6 inch round cake tine with baking paper. Turn the oven on to 180C.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy and light in colour. In a small bowl, add in the oil, buttermilk and vanilla. In another bowl, add in the flour, baking powder and salt. Then pour half of the flour mixture into the egg/sugar fluff, and FOLD gently with a spatula, add in half of the wet ingredients, and fold. Then add in the remaining flour mixture, and fold, and then the remaining wet ingredients and fold until combined. Do not over mix, you don’t want to lose the air from the cake.
3. Pour evenly into the two lined baking tins, and bake for 25-30 min, take out, let cool completely. Leave to side until time to assemble.

Pistachio Dacqouise – 

1. Turn your oven on to 180C.
2. In a medium bowl, mix in the ground pistachio, almond flour and icing sugar. Then whip up the egg whites until stuff peaks, and slowly add int he sugar. Whisk on high until glossy and thick. Then fold in the dry ingredients, until thoroughly combined, making sure not to over fold and make sure not to release too much air. Then spread & make two 6 inch circle discs, onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. I just used a spoon and spooned it out, you can use a piping bag if it’s easier. Bake for 20 min, until golden. Take out and let cool completely before assembly.

Raspberry Curd – 

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add in the sugar, raspberries, egg and salt. Mix until the sugar has dissolved.
3. cook at low, let it simmer for 10 minutes, or until thickened. Make sure your raspberries have broken down completely.
4. Add in your lemon juice and mix.
5. Take a large clean bowl, place a sieve on top and pour the curd through the sieve, so it catches all the raspberry seeds.
6. Then place it into the fridge to cool down until ready to use.

Raspberry mousse – 

1. Put the gelatine leaves into a bowl with cold water to soften.
2. Take 200g of the raspberry curd and pour it into a saucepan, add in 55g of cold water, and put it on the stove and let it simmer on low. then squeeze off the excess water from the gelatine leaves and put them into the warm curd, mix until the gelatine has completely dissolved. Pour it into a clean small bowl, and leave it to come to room temp (you can out it into the fridge, just make sure to keep checking on it so it doesnt become stiff).
3. Then whip up your cream to stiff peaks and add in the sugar.
4. Fold in the cooled raspberry/gelatine curd and put it into the fridge until time to use. Keep the fresh raspberries and strawberries on the side until time to assemble.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream – 

1. Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.
2. 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).
3. 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).
4. Switch to paddle attachment.
5. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.
6. Add vanilla,Whip until smooth. Keep aside in the fridge for covering the cake later.

Assembly –  

1. Take a 6 inch cake tin, and place baking paper on the bottom. Then place 1 layer of the vanilla sponge, pour about 1/4 of the mousse on top. *Note – The fresh berries are optional! – If using – Place half of the fresh raspberries and fresh strawberries on top of the mousse. Place 1 pistachio dacqouise disc on top. Spoon on half of the raspberry curd, evenly. Then repeat one more time, first the vanilla sponge, then the mousse, fresh berries and strawberries, then the dacqouise, spread the raspberry curd, and finally raspberry mousse. Place into freezer for 2-3 hours, until stiff and cold.
2. Once cold and hardened, Take out and cover with an even layer of the buttercream. If you want to pipe or place flowers on, take some of the buttercream, and colour it with your desired colours, and pipe or place on the flowers around the cake.

And there you have it! Complicated, time consuming but Very Worth it! 😉

Enjoy! And Happy Eid to those Celebrating! 🙂