Chocolate raspberry layer cake
Torta di cioccolato e lampone
As a huge fan of Italian pasticcerie, I like my cakes to be bite sized, but they start out as a traditional chocolate raspberry layer cake.
A typical Italian pasticceria has dozens of different, delicate looking, mouth watering, colourful and meticulously shaped and decorated cakes on display. There are almond cakes, layer cakes, cream cakes, fruit cakes and fried cakes, and they are all bite sized, which means you can taste more than one. The tiny cakes are based on the same recipes as bigger cakes. It is only the technique and the craftsmanship that make them different, which means that this chocolate raspberry layer cake could also be made in a round springform pan or in a rectangular bread pan, as you prefer.
Ingredients
For the chocolate sponge
150 g butter + some for the pan
100 g dark chocolate
3 eggs
150 g sugar
120 g flour
1 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
For the raspberry mousse
2 sheets of gelatin
200 g raspberry
100 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
250 ml whipping cream
For the chocolate ganache glaze
100 g chocolate
100 ml double cream
1 tbsp syrup
Preparation
Start by making the chocolate sponge :
Melt butter and chocolate that has been broken into smaller pieces in a casserole over low heat.
Whisk eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Incorporate the flour, vanilla sugar and baking powder in the egg mixture.
Keep stirring while chocolate and butter is being added.
Grease a 30 cm loaf pan with butter and pot the cake mixture into the pan.
Bake at 160 C / 325 F for 40 minutes. The sponge is done, when you insert a needle in the centre of the cake, and it comes out clean.
Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool before you turn it out.
Prepare raspberry mousse, while the cake is baking.
Soak the two sheets of gelatin in cold water.
Give raspberries, sugar and vanilla sugar a quick boil until the sugar has melted.
Pass the raspberries through a sieve and discard the seeds.
Squeeze excess water from the gelatin and stir it into the raspberry jam. The jam should still be warm enough the dissolve the gelatin completely without leaving any lumps.
Let the raspberry mixture cool down, but do not allow it to set.
Whisk the double cream until it forms firm white peaks.
Fold the cream into the raspberry mixture, and let it cool in the fridge until it has enough heft to carry the sponge cake.
Cut the sponge cake in three vertical layers with a sharp knife. Discard the bulky top. (To make the bite sized chocolate raspberry layer cakes in the photo, I actually cut the cake in six super thin layers, which were then cut into 3×3 cm squares).
Make a double sandwich of three layers of sponge and two layers of raspberry mousse.
Prepare a chocolate ganache glaze by chopping up the chocolate.
Heat the cream until it is almost boiling.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate pieces and stir to make the chocolate melt.
Add a spoonful of syrup to make the glaze extra shiny, but don’t expect a mirror glaze.
Pour the chocolate ganache glaze over the chocolate raspberry layer cake(s). Use a knife to spread the glacé evenly over the surface.
Place the chocolate raspberry layer cake(s) in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, before serving.
Bite sized chocolate layer cakes filled with raspberry mousse.
Italian Notes
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