I truly admire people who are able to come up with their own original recipes. I love and enjoy experimenting in the kitchen, be it baking or cooking. I’ve adjusted known recipes to fit my taste and I can even say I improved some (at least I think so :)), but I’ve never created my very own recipe.
Last week, after a quite long pause, I started going to pastel painting class again. I forgot how this class does wonders to my emotional wellness, inspiration, and just overall feeling of joy! As I was doodling on a note pad thinking of what could be my next painting project, I found myself sketching a cake… Weird how my mind switched from thinking of painting to thinking of a cake and my hand followed accordingly.
In the back of my mind I had plans to make a cake this weekend – a cake for my birthday. I could have let my family buy me a cake, but as every other year I am totally almost expected to make a cake for each family member’s birthday. Honestly, I like it that way! Still sketching, an idea of my very own cake came to mind… Raspberries came to mind, vanilla, white chocolate, mmm… why not?! Here it is! From the birth of an idea to the final product – Raspberry Dream Cake!
Raspberry Dream Cake Printable recipe
Ingredients
Cake:
- 6 eggs
- 4 tbsp hot water
- 3/4 cups (150 g) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp bitter almond extract
- 5 oz (150 g) sour cream* ( I added sour cream to the batter for additional moisture and to avoid cake being dry)
- 1 1/4 cup (150 g) flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 5 oz (150) g ground hazelnuts
Frosting # 1 – Semolina, butter, white chocolate frosting:
- 1 cup (250 ml) milk
- 1 cup (250 ml) cream
- 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3.5 oz (100 g) semolina
- 1 stick (100 g) butter
- 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
- 3.5 (100 g) white chocolate
Frosting # 2 – Raspberry Gelée:
- 14 oz (400 g) frozen raspberries
- 6 oz (170 g) fresh raspberries
- 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 ml) water
- 2 envelopes (14 g) plain gelatin
- 6 tbsp water
Decoration:
- 7 oz (200 g) white chocolate
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cup (300 ml) heavy cream (whipped)
- Sugar
- Fresh raspberries
- Lemon Balm leaves
Also needed: 7 inch (18 cm) spring form cake pan, parchment paper, plastic wrap, a long sharp knife, cake decorating bag with a star tip
Cake preparation:
- In a mixer bowl beat 6 eggs with 4 tbsp hot water until foamy, add vanilla and bitter almond extract. Slowly start adding sugar and mix at least for 2 minutes, before adding sour cream. Combine flour, baking powder and ground hazelnuts. Turn the mixing speed to low and add the dry ingredients.
- Bake in a 7 inch (18 cm) spring form cake pan lined with parchment paper at 365 F (185 C) for about 30 minutes. Cool completely, remove from the spring form and slice across into three even pieces.
Prepare frosting #1:
- Combine cream, milk, vanilla and sugar and let it boil. Pour into it semolina flour, lower the heat and mix until all liquid disappears and the mixture has a pudding consistency. Cool slightly and cover with plastic wrap to avoid crust forming. The mixture will harden somewhat as it cools.
- Combine butter and sugar, mix until fluffy, add melted white chocolate and mix well. Add it to the semolina mixture and again mix well or until thoroughly combined. Cover and set aside.
Prepare frosting #2:
- Line a 7 inch spring form cake pan with plastic wrap.
- Combine frozen, fresh raspberries and water. Blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl and add sugar.
- In a small cooking pan disolve gelatin in 6 tbsp of water, mix and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Lightly heat gelatin and let it melt, but do not let it boil. Take few table spoons out of raspberry mixture and mix it well with gelatin.
- Now add the gelatin into remaining raspberries and mix well. Pour it into spring form and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
- Remove from the fridge, remove the pan rim. Slowly divide into two pieces by cutting through with a long, sharp knife.
Put together and decorate the cake:
- 1st of 3 cake layers
- ½ half of semolina frosting
- 1st piece of raspberry gelée
- 2nd of 3 cake layers
- 2nd half of semolina frosting
- 2nd half of raspberry gelée
- 3rd of 3 cake layers
- Melt the white chocolate with vegetable oil until liquid. Pour and spread over top of the cake and sides. Put it into fridge for about 15 minutes.
- Beat the cream with desired amount of sugar until dense. Decorate the sides and top of the cake with whipped cream, fresh raspberries and lemon balm.
Bon Appétit!
Raspberry Gelée
bakingwithsibella.com 
Lovely–I guess the muse was speaking to you. I have never heard of semolina frosting! And…sretan rodjendan, of course!
Hvala Sara! 🙂 In Bosnia semolina is used quite often for cakes and deserts. I just thought since its used make pudding, why not as frosting too. I love semolina’s texture and as cake frosting it turned out to be excellent! 🙂
Is this regular old semolina flour? Or something else…I’m never sure when I see recipes using it.
I know it as semolina or “griz”- Bosnian, “griess” -German. It is not powdery as regular flour, but more coarse.
First of all.. I think you should do this more often, second, you are quite a beautiful sketch artist.. finally.. that cake!! Wow!! I couldn’t think of a prettier cake and I’m so impressed that you invented it all by yourself! xo Smidge
Thank you Smidge! 🙂 I took a chance really not knowing how would all of it come together, but luckily it came out great! My husband said this is one of the best cakes he ever had! I am very happy and I sure plan to do “my own thing” here and there! 😉
I am designing a cake too, for my best friend’s birthday and I’m having so much fun brainstorming the different flavours that complement or contrast each other. Your cake looks really delicious! Happy Birthday!
Thank you Jasline! Cake designing is so much fun, I plan to do more of it! 🙂
Looks very pretty! Best wishes!
Thanks so much Villy! 🙂
squeal!!!!!!! I love your sketch and meticulous planning!!! I “plan” ahead in my brain, and then panic that I have nothing solid when I actually make my cake… Your cake is gorgeous!! I love the height and contrast and the whiteness of your frosting. Happy Birthday!!!
Thanks so much! It was really fun making a cake that I didn’t have idea how will it turn out. I think I am going to do more sketching and more designing! 🙂
Have a wonderful week!
Sibella
Omg this is so cool Sibella! It never occurred to me that anyone could actually design their own cake! That’s how ‘by the book’ I am 😛 So I’m very very impressed by your cake…it turned out exactly as you saw it in your mind’s eye!
And all the layers are so different and interestingly put together. I can’t decide if it was a wise thing to subscribe to you seeing as every post of yours makes me want to kill myself! 😀
Dying for a bite, just a tiny bite of this gorgeous cake. And hey, warmest birthday wishes for you from Karachi, Pakistan 🙂 Hope you have a lovely day!
Awww Munira, thank you so much! It was really fun creating a cake, so much more fun than just using a known recipe. If I was closer to you, I would make you your own cake, seriously! 🙂
Hugs and Love to you friend!
Hi, this is my first time here and I’m thoroughly impressed. What an imaginative, lovely cake. Happy birthday!
Hi Kathleen, welcome and thanks so much! Making this cake was so much fun! My daughter’s birthday is coming up, so I will have to put my imagination to work! 🙂
Thanks for visiting!
Sibella
Ok enough delay, rent a little place and start your bakery. This cake can be your signature cake. Take care, BAM
OK! 🙂 I plan to do that some time!
Hugs to you friend!
Sibella
Agreed with the ‘start your bakery’ comment 🙂
That has been my dream for a long time. I hope it will come true! 🙂
Seriously, this was a beautiful process- start to finish! I love the meticulous planning, the creative ingredients (semolina!)… and the final product is stunning. And tastes like the best cake your husband’s ever had? This is a win through and through! SO well done… keep up the brilliant work 🙂
Thank you Deb! All I can say is that I am inspired to do more and better! As much as I love baking, I love even more sharing the treats with my family and friends! 🙂
Merci!
Sibella
Wow Sibella, you are a master baker!!! 🙂 Looks fantastic, bet it tastes divine !!
Thanks so much Anne! I am happy how it turned out. What I especially love about it is the raspberry gelee!
Thanks for stopping by! :)))
Sibella
Very impressive. I love hazelnut in a cake, yum. What does the semolina do for the frosting?! I’m so curious I’m going to have to try it out! Lovely cake.
Thank you! 🙂 When you boil semolina in milk and sugar it expands and becomes like pudding (you may add lemon zest to it, raisins and serve it small cups as a desert). Adding butter and vanilla to cooked semolina makes a really nice textured frosting.
Your cake is definitely a dream come true – what an exquisite creation 🙂
Happy Easter!
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks so much! It was a moment of inspiration and I took action! 🙂
Happy Easter as well!
Sibella
Wow! I really like the notes about de cake, and the outcome looks really delicious!
Thanks so much! It was just an idea and then it turned to reality! 🙂 I think I am going to use this way of planning in the future. Thanks for visiting!
Sibella
It looks great! And happy birthday! I always like making my own birthday cake because I know it will be exactly what I want, so I hope this really did come out like your dream cake 🙂
Thanks Korena! It was all I wanted indeed! 🙂
Have a great week!
Sibella
Now that truly is a dream cake…just beautiful. Happy Birthday!
Thanks so much Karen! 🙂 Have a wonderful week!
Sibella
wow am i glad i hoped over from jasline’s blog! your dream cake looks absolutely fantastic and very true to your initial drawing 🙂 and i totally dig the idea of semolina frosting – i always use semolina only in pasta and pizzas, so it’s good to use it for something new!
Thanks for stopping by Janine! 🙂 Semolina is so versatile. It makes a really good pudding-like desert too You take one part of semolina, let’s say 100 g and you take 4 parts of milk – 400 ml. Combine milk with some sugar and vanilla, let it boil and add semolina, mix until it gets pudding consistency, pour into small serving cups, decorate with fruit or chocolate, let it cool and there you have a beautiful desert. You can add cocoa to it, possibilities are many…. 🙂