Ruby Bhogal’s Cardamom & Raspberry Cake with Whipped Coconut Cream

Method

Let’s get the sponge made so preheat the oven to 155°C Fan/ 175°C/gas mark 2 and grease and line 2 x 7 inch tins with the coconut oil and greaseproof paper.

Into a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar and mix using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Make sure you give this at least 5 minutes for an aerated cake base.

Add the eggs to the stand mixer, one at a time. Mix each addition well, allowing the eggs to emulsify with the butter. Once all the eggs have gone in, add the vanilla bean paste and soured cream and mix again.

In a separate bowl, add the ground cardamom to your flour and give it a good mix.

Add 1/3 of the cardamom flour to the stand mixer bowl and mix well.

Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the remaining 2/3 of flour by hand using a rubber spatula. Do this in 2 stages to minimize flour clumps.

Once the batter has been mixed, divide it evenly between the two tins and pop in the oven to bake for approx. 35 to 38 minutes. Prick the middle with a toothpick to ensure you only bring back crumbs before removing from the oven.

Leave the sponges in the tins for a few minutes before turning them out onto a cooling rack. Let them sit at room temp for 30 minutes before wrapping in clingfilm and leaving to cool completely.

Make the sugar syrup by adding all the ingredients to a saucepan and placing it over a medium heat till boiling. Turn down the heat and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until the water has thickened and turned syrupy.

For the filling, add ¾ of the raspberries and all the sugar to a bowl. Squeeze over a bit of lemon juice and break down with the back of a fork.

The last thing to make is the whipped coconut cream.  Add all the cream ingredients to a bowl and whisk until medium peak. Give it a taste and adjust the sweetness levels if needs be. We want a looser cream for a silkier finish so work the rest of the cream by hand until you get it to a consistency you feel comfortable with.

Let’s construct the cake. Remove the cakes from the wrap and level out any domed tops with a serrated knife.

Use a pastry brush to liberally brush over the cooled vanilla sugar syrup on the tops and sides of the sponge.

Dollop a good helping of the coconut cream on top, saving some of the cream for later. Swirl around for an even layer before layering on top ½ of the raspberries.

Sprinkle over a good handful of the blitzed pistachio.

Sandwich the cake with the remaining sponge, bottom side up (for a super flat top) and add the remaining cream. I like to go quite rustic and just use the back of the spoon to loosely swirl around.

To finish this beauty off, add the remaining ¼ fresh whole raspberries to the reserved smushy berries you used to till the cake with and loosely mix.

Add on top of the cream alongside a scattering of the remaining chopped pistachio and this fragrant beauty is now complete to eat.