Raspberry Cake with Buttercream

When I needed to make a cake for my friend's birthday this weekend, I wasn't quite sure what to make. I knew I wanted to make something a bit special, but that was as far as I'd got in my planning a few days before the party. The it suddenly struck me that since it is autumn, and fruit and berries are in season, I could make something seasonal. And it would work well because not everyone who would be at the party have a sweet tooth. So off I went searching through my recipe books for inspiration. I found several tasty-sounding recipes, and what I ended up with was a great success, very tasty and not too sweet. 

Serves up to 12 people

Pre-heat the oven to 180oC and grease a 20cm diameter round baking tin.

For the cake
350g caster sugar
125g butter
3 eggs
300ml crème fraiche
500g flour (I used Dove's Farm gluten free white bread flour)
1 teaspoon xanthan gum - but only if your flour does not already contain this
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon glycerine
1 tablespoon red food colouring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g raspberries

For the buttercream and decoration
450g cream cheese (full fat)
180g butter
1.1kg icing sugar
125g raspberries

Whisk the sugar and butter until they are light and fluffy, and then add the eggs one at a time, stirring well between adding each egg. Add the crème fraiche, and again stir well.

Measure out the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and sift these into the mixture. Stir well and add the glycerine, colour and vanilla extract. Finally add the raspberries and stir well. 

Pour the mixture into the cake tin, and bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when you do the skewer test. 

Take the cake out of the oven, and place on a cooling rack. After a few minutes; remove it from the baking tin. Leave the cake to cool.

Slice the cake into four layers, using a sharp bread-knife.

To make the buttercream, mix the ingredients and mix well until you have a smooth mixture without any lumps. Using a palette knife, spread some of the buttercream on the bottom layer. Place another layer on top, and repeat until all four layers are stacked. Use the remainder of the mixture to cover the cake in cream. Decorate with the raspberries.