Lemon, raspberry and rosemary cake

Torta al limone, lamponi e rosmarino

By: Melissa Forti
From: The Italian Baker
Serves: 10-12

Now, this is a truly international cake! It’s layered (the American way), the sponge is close to an Italian pan di Spagna sponge, the lemon and rosemary are truly Mediterranean, while the raspberries come from the forests of central Europe. It’s fresh, light and has a balsamic scent. Wonderful for tea with friends or a birthday party, and if you serve it at the end of a meal you can be sure of a showstopper!

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient

For the syrup

Quantity	Ingredient
200g	caster sugar
200g	water
125g	rosemary sprigs, plus extra to decorate

For the sponge

Quantity	Ingredient
little	softened butter, for greasing
8	eggs, at room temperature
160g	caster sugar
1 teaspoon	vanilla paste or extract
160g	plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon	baking powder
1	lemon, Finely grated zested

For the filling

Quantity	Ingredient
350g	frozen raspberries, plus extra to decorate
1 teaspoon	cornflour
2 tablespoons	freshly squeezed lemon juice
60g	caster sugar

For the frosting

Quantity	Ingredient
250ml	double cream
250g	mascarpone cheese
90g	icing sugar, sifted, plus extra to decorate

Method

Make the syrup. Put the sugar and water in a pan over a medium heat. Heat for 15–20 minutes until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the rosemary, cover and leave to infuse. Once cooled to room temperature, chill in the fridge overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter the bases and sides of two 20-cm cake tins and line with baking parchment.
Put the eggs, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a mixing bowl and electric handheld beaters) and beat until doubled in volume, about 6 minutes. Now gradually fold in the flour by hand.
Divide the batter between the prepared tins and bake for about 25–30 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean and the cakes are springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before inverting on to a wire rack to cool completely.
Combine all the filling ingredients in a small pan and slowly bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens. Remove from the heat and cool completely.
For the frosting, whip the cream until medium-stiff. Put the mascarpone and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a mixing bowl with an electric hand-held whisk) fitted with the paddle attachment and mix for about 3 minutes on a slow-medium speed. Add the whipped cream and mix on a high speed for about 3 more minutes.
To assemble, brush syrup over each cake and let it soak in. Pipe a ring of frosting around the first layer to create a ridge, and spoon the filling into the middle. Repeat with a second layer of sponge. Frost the cake as you wish, decorate with rosemary and raspberries and dust with icing sugar.