Sophie followed The Brick Kitchen’s Lemon, Almond and Raspberry Layer Cake
Prep time: 2 hours Cooking time: 30 minutes Total time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Cake ingredients
300 g butter, softened
300g caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 eggs
300g ground almonds
75g flour (or buckwheat flour to make gluten-free), sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 1/3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
Icing ingredients
225g butter, softened
375g icing sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
150g cream cheese
Zest of 1 lemon (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 170°C. Line 3 x 15cm round cake tins with baking paper.
In the bowl of a stand beater or with an electric mixer, cream the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.
Fold in the ground almonds, sifted flour and baking powder.
Fold in the lemon zest and juice.
Divide the batter equally between the three tins, and dot the top of each with raspberries.
Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out just clean.
Remove and leave to cool in the tins for 15 minutes, then remove to a cake rack to cool completely.
To make the buttercream
Beat the butter with an electric or stand mixer until very pale, about 5 minutes.
Add the icing sugar and beat again until combined and very pale, another 5 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract.
With the mixture on a medium speed, gradually add the cream cheese, teaspoon by teaspoon, until just combined.
Add the lemon zest and mix to just combine (optional).
To assemble
Place one cake layer on the plate, cake board or cake stand you plan to serve it on.
Top with a spoonful of buttercream and use an offset spatula to spread evenly over the cake at about 1/2 cm – 1 cm thick.
Gently place a second cake on top. Repeat with the icing, then another cake layer, then icing again. If it is warm in your kitchen, at this point you may want to place the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes to make it easier to ice the sides.
Gently spread icing around the sides of the cake.
Decorate with edible flowers and serve.