Raspberry ripple, elderflower and almond cake

This is a birthday cake for our friend Shahien, whose son Sabir commissioned me to make a cake with raspberries and strawberries for her. I made a Victoria sponge but included crushed raspberries rippled into the cake batter, which also contained elderflower cordial and substituted some of the flour for ground almonds. I then made an elderflower whipped cream and added elderflower to raspberry jam for the filling, layered with fresh raspberries and strawberries. Happy birthday Shane!

Ingredients

1 lb butter

1 lb caster sugar

1 tbsp elderflower cordial (plus extra for drizzling)

8 eggs

12 oz self-raising flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

4 oz ground almonds

4 oz raspberries, crushed

For the elderflower cream

6 fl. oz double cream

4 tbsp elderflower cordial

2 oz icing sugar

For the raspberry elderflower jam

4 tbsp seedless raspberry jam

2 tbsp elderflower cordial

To decorate

4 oz raspberries

2 oz strawberries

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease and line two 9 inch round cake tins.  
2. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter, sugar and elderflower cordial together until pale and fluffy.
3. Measure out the flour and set aside.
4. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, followed by a large spoonful of flour between each egg.  Beat well after each addition.
5. Sift in the remaining flour, baking powder and ground almonds and fold together with a large metal spoon until well combined.
6. In a small bowl, crush the raspberries with the back of a spoon and add to the cake batter, folding in loosely to create a ‘ripple’.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tins and bake for about 25-30 mins until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Remove from the tins and skewer the base of each cake to make small holes all over it, then brush with a little elderflower cordial and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
9. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the cream, elderflower cordial and sifted icing sugar until just stiff enough to hold a peak.
10. Place the jam and cordial in a small saucepan and warm gently until melted.
11. When the cakes are completely cool, spread the jam over the bottom layer and leave to set.
12. Cover the jam with sliced strawberries and top with half the elderflower cream. Arrange raspberries on top of the cream and sandwich the other cake on top. Cover the cake with the remaining cream, then arrange raspberries and strawberries on top.