Vanilla Raspberry Layered Cake
Four buttermilk vanilla cakes stacked with buttercream, the top one baked with raspberries in the base so they glaze up glossy. Serve from the top down, one cake at a time.
Serves: about 48, or 64 as a small dessert
Prep time: 30 minutes for icing
Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes per cake
INGREDIENTS
For the cake, times 4
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
150g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 egg white, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
180ml buttermilk, at room temperature
3 punnets raspberries
For the glaze
1/3 cup apricot preserve
For the icing
345g unsalted butter, at room temperature
650g icing sugar
1/3 cup milk or thickened cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 22cm cake pan, line with baking paper and grease the baking paper.
Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together and set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar together on high speed with a paddle or whisk attachment until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.
Beat in the eggs, egg white and vanilla on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes.
On low speed, add the dry ingredients just until combined, then pour in the buttermilk and mix just until combined.
Pour the batter into the lined tin and smooth the top. Bake for 50 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack upside down, to flatten the domed top.
Repeat 3 more times to make the other cakes. For the raspberry topped cake, arrange the raspberries in the bottom of the tin, leaving a 2cm gap around the edge, then pour the batter over them, being careful not to push them out.
Once cool, the cakes can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for a couple of days, or frozen until needed.
Heat the apricot preserve in a saucepan with a teaspoon of water and strain. Brush over the raspberries to glaze. This should only be done on the day of icing and serving.
For the buttercream, beat the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar, milk and vanilla and beat.
To ice, place a tablespoon of icing on the cake stand below the first cake to hold it in place. Ice the top of each layer with a 1cm thick layer of buttercream. Once you get to layer 3 you may like to add a skewer through the centre to secure the top layer.
Do not ice the top layer of glazed raspberries. Instead use the remaining icing to apply a thin nude layer around the outside of the cake.
Top with raspberries and icing sugar to serve.
HINTS
Turn each cake out upside down onto the rack. The weight flattens the dome and gives you level layers without trimming.
The cakes freeze well, so bake them across a few days rather than all at once. Glaze and ice only on the day.
Cut each layer into 12 or 16 slices and serve from the top cake, only cutting into the second cake once the top one is completely served.
NUTRITION (per recipe total, serves about 48 - guide only):
Energy: approximately 70000kJ (16800 calories)
Protein: 150g
Fat: 1050g
Saturated fat: 650g
Carbohydrates: 2100g
Sugars: 1600g
Fibre: 40g
Sodium: 3500mg
This nutrition information is a guide only and may vary depending on brands, exact quantities, and ingredient substitutions used.