Baking: White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake

I have been feeling a little deflated that I haven’t been baking in a long while but home and work life have been taking priority for most of this year and sometimes that’s just the way it has to be. On my way home this evening I could hear my oven calling me and so I responded by whipping up this beautiful White Chocolate and Raspberry cake.  Nothing beats a good solid, traditional style cake.  

I can’t take full credit for this as I found the recipe on BBC Good Food, but I can share with you that it was a successful evening and will hopefully ease me back into the kitchen and win some friends in the office.

You will need:

200 g butter, chopped into small cubes, plus extra for greasing
100 g white chocolate, broken into pieces
4 eggs
200 g caster sugar
200 g plain flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
190g raspberries, fresh

For the ganache:

200 g white chocolate, chopped
250 ml double cream
a little icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

(1) Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan assisted).

(2) Grease and line the base of 2 round cake tins.

(3) Place the butter and chocolate into a heatproof mixing bowl and set over a pan of barely simmering water.  Allow them to melt together slowly, and remember to stir occasionally.

(4) Once the butter and chocolate has melted, remove them from the heat and allow to cool for 3 minutes, then with an electric hand whisk, whisk in the eggs and sugar. Fold in the flour and raspberries.

(5) Gently pour the mixture into the tins and bake for around 25 minures or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack

(6) To make the ganache, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl with 100 ml of the cream, set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until the chocolate has melted into the cream and you are left with a smooth and glossy ganache. Leave the ganache to cool to room temperature, then beat in the rest of the cream.

(7) When the cakes have cooled, sandwich them together with the chocolate ganache.

(8) Dust with icing sugar just before serving.