Raspberry Chocolate Sponge

I love raspberries and wanted to use some in a cake. So I came up with this very easy Raspberry Chocolate Sponge.

It uses that tried and tested method of weighing eggs, in the shells, and using that same weight for the other ingredients. That works very well for a sponge cake. But for the recipe below I provide weights and cup measurements.

Basically, using the same weight for the sugar, the butter and a combination of flour and cocoa powder makes a very nice sponge cake. If you wish to check an interesting article about the ration of ingredients in baking you can read here.

For a plain sponge cake the flour will weigh the same as the eggs in the shells. However for a chocolate sponge we need to use some cocoa powder too. So 3/4 of the weight of the eggs is flour and the remaining 1/4 of the weight is made up with cocoa powder.

Of course the cake needs some leavening, in addition to the eggs, so a little baking powder is used as well.

Then, as a filling for the cake I used some raspberry as well as fresh raspberries along with a chocolate buttercream. Using fresh cream instead of buttercream is an alternative for those who might prefer that.

The recipe is actually very easy, even though there are several steps to it. It just takes a little patience which is rewarded by a very tasty treat.

The texture of the buttercream can be varied to personal taste, using different rations of butter, chocolate and icing sugar. Adding a little cream into it would make a richer buttercream too, if desired.

My Bake

I baked my sponges for 22 minutes, until they were springy to the touch and just coming away from the sides of the pan.

Then I left them to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack, where they cooled completely.

As the cakes cooled I made the buttercream by mixing butter and icing sugar and then some melted, cooled, chocolate.

I assembled the cake with that and the jam and raspberries between the two layers. Then it was time to taste it. The sponges were lovely and soft, with a nice chocolate flavour. The filling, too, was very good, the sweet but tart jam complementing the chocolate buttercream and then the lovely fresh raspberries made a great combination.

This is perfect for serving just as a slice of cake. But it is very good as a dessert too, with some whipped cream, or even ice-cream.

For another chocolate cake recipe try Rich Chocolate Cake.

Raspberry Chocolate Sponge

Recipe by geoffcooCourse: Cakes, DessertsDifficulty: Easy

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Ingredients

• Sponge

• 4 medium eggs(large in USA) -mine weighed 231g in the shells

• 230g(1 cup + 2 tbsp+1tsp) caster sugar

• 230g(2 sticks+1 tsp) softened butter

• 175g(1 cup+3 tbsp, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup) plain flour

• 57g(1/2cup+1 tbsp) cocoa powder

• 4g(1 tsp) baking powder

• 30ml(2tbsp) milk, to loosen the batter, you may not need all of it.

• Filling

• 100g(7 tbsp) softened butter

• 220g(2 cups) icing sugar

• 75g(6 tbps) dark chocolate, melted and cooled

• 75g(3 tbsp) raspberry jam

• 150g(5 oz) fresh raspberries, sliced if large

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F.
• Grease 2 8 inch/20cm sponge tins and line the bases with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat them in until fully combined.
• Mix the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together.
• Sift that dry mixture onto the egg/butter mixture and fold in until fully combined.
• Use just enough milk, mixed in, until the batter just slowly drops off the spoon or spatula.
• Divide the mixture equally between the two cake tins and spread the batter evenly over the entire surface.
• Bake the cakes for 20 to 25 minutes, until they have risen and are springy to the touch, and they have come away from the side of the pan.
• Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Cream the butter and icing sugar together until fully combined.
• Stir in the melted, cooled chocolate until fully combined.
• Turn one sponge cake over to provide a flat surface, and spread the jam over it.
• Spread the buttercream onto the jam, but retain just a little to spread on the top layer.
• Press the raspberries into the buttercream.
• Spread the small amount of reserved buttercream onto the underside of the second cake layer.
• Press that down onto the raspberries.
• Dust with a little icing sugar or cocoa powder, if desired, before serving.