An excellent cake for a special occasion!
Pastry Cream
1 cup milk
¼ vanilla bean
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs yolks
2 tbsp corn starch
1. In a small saucepan heat milk and split vanilla bean. Bring milk to a boil, cover to keep it warm before adding to the eggs.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is a pale yellow and forms a ribbon as it drips back into the bowl. Whisk in cornstarch.
3. Strain the hot vanilla milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
4. Pour the mixture into the saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Once it boils, cook for one minute, stirring vigorously.
5. Remove from heat, press through a sieve. Cover and let cool.
Cake
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups cake flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup 2% milk
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8in round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix into the butter sugar mixture, followed by the milk until just combined.
4. Evenly divide the batter between the pans and bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes before turning out of the pans. Cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
6 tbsp butter
3 tbsp shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Cream together butter and shortening. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
*Note: This makes just enough frosting to frost the cake, if you'd like to have enough to do piping decoration I'd recommend doubling the recipe.*
Assembly
½ cup of black raspberry jam
10 sprigs of fresh thyme
5 black raspberries
1. Place bottom layer of cake on serving platter. Pipe pastry cream over bottom layer. Spread ½ cup of black raspberry jam over the pastry cream. Place second layer over the filling.
2. Spread frosting over the cake. Decorate with the thyme and raspberries.
This cake takes a while to make but is a joy to eat. I enjoy this dessert because it's full of summer flavors, black raspberry jam, pastry cream reminiscent of vanilla ice cream, fresh thyme sprigs to decorate. The cake has a delicate crumb and the icing is just sweet enough to make each bite light yet creamy and sweet.
As September pulls in and warm, sunny days become few and far between this feels like a last hurrah for early summer when the raspberries were fresh and the thyme sprigs delicate. Don't get me wrong, with a few modifications this could easily be a fall or winter cake. Pick your favorite jam, jelly, conserve, marmalade, and pick a berry or herb that would pair well to garnish! White cake and pastry cream are the canvas for simple, endless flavor combinations. Some fillings that sound delightful are cinnamon apple butter garnished with cinnamon sticks or candied ginger (just don't eat the cinnamon stick!), black currant jam with garnish of sage or thyme, or raspberry jam with a chocolate pastry cream filling!
As the weekend rolls in I'm not sure what I'll be baking. I would love to make this cake, but with university classes in full swing now I'm sad to say I won't have the time. A summer berry buckle served with ice cream sounds like a lovely easy baking project, or if you're in a fall mood chocolate chip zucchini bread sounds like an excellent way to use up that summer squash as pumpkin season nears. Whatever you choose I hope you enjoy some good food.
Happy Baking :)
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