For me, a birthday is not complete without a birthday cake! We host a small lunch gathering each week and like to celebrate each person’s birthday as it comes along. I ask the birthday gal or guy what their favorite cake is and we make it from scratch. Several weeks ago, one of the attendees (a southern ‘gent) told us his favorite cake was the raspberry elegance cake that is sold in his local grocery store. Since hubby is a kiwi and I’m a girl from the NE, this was the first time we’ve heard of this cake. I searched online and couldn’t find a recipe that didn’t involve a box and a carton of icing. The ‘gent showed me a photo, explained it as a white cake with raspberry filling and cream cheese icing. With that information, hubby and I made his birthday cake using hubby’s recipe for the sponge cake and used a cream cheese icing recipe we like from Tyler Florence‘s cookbook, “Dinner At My Place“.


Ingredients:


Cake

• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 3/4 cups of flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of oil
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup boiling hot water

Cream Cheese Icing

• 2 pounds of cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon zest

Other Ingredients

• Raspberries
• Raspberry jam (take out of the jar and mix it around so it will be easier to spread. We would have made it ourselves but didn’t have time. We’ll post a raspberry jam recipe in the future!)

Directions

Cake

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare three 9-inch round pans. If you only have one, you’ll have to wash it in between to make sure your cake comes out easily. Cut baking sheets into three 9-inch round circles. Butter the pan, place one round baking sheet you cut out into the pan and butter the sheet as well. Put aside until step 4.
   
   
   
   
2. Beat eggs lightly, mix in the oil, milk and set aside.
   
   
   
   
3. Combine sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add in the wet ingredients. Once mixed well, add in the hot water. Don’t worry that the batter is liquidy.
   
   
   
   
4. Pour one third of the liquid in one 9-inch round pan, another third into another 9-inch round pan, and the last third into another 9-inch pan. If you only have one or two pans, do it in stages. You can leave the mixture at room temperature while you wait for the each batch to bake.
   
   
   
   
5. Bake it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about half an hour or when the toothpick comes out clean when you stick it in the center of the cake. Remove from the oven and let it cool on the cooling rack in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn the cake onto the cooling rack and let it cool completely. If you need to use the pan again, wash it and follow steps 1, 4 and 5 again.
   
   

Cream Cheese Frosting

“Using a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl until it is blended and has a smoooth, light texture. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest and beat until combined. Continue to beat until smooth and glossy, about 7 minutes)”

Putting the Cake Together

Choose the platform you’d like to serve the cake on. Place the first layer of the cake on the plate. Take a knife and spread half of the jam on the top of first layer of the cake. Place the next layer of the cake on the raspberry jam. Spread the remainder of the jam on the next layer. Place the final layer. Spread the frosting on the cake, decorate with raspberries and it’s ready to eat!