Chocolate, Pistachio and Raspberry Cake

Serves 12-14

Ingredients:

Chocolate Sponge:

• 330g plain flour

• 485g caster sugar

• 120g cocoa powder

• 2.5 tsp baking powder

• 2.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 3 large eggs

• 330ml milk

• 150ml vegetable oil

• 2 tsp vanilla essence

• 185ml boiling water

Pistachio Buttercream:

• 200g unsalted butter (softened)

• 400g icing sugar

• 75g pistachio cream

• 1-2 tbsp whole milk

Filling:

• 60g raspberry jam

• fresh raspberries (halved)

Chocolate Ganache:

• 225ml double cream

• 225g unsalted butter

• 200g dark chocolate

• 125g milk chocolate

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Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius (fan)

2. Add all the ingredients into a large bowl (apart from the boiling water), making sure to sift all the dry ingredients first, and mix together with a hand or electric whisk until smooth

3. Slowly add the boiling water, mixing as you go until fully combined.

4. Divide evenly between 3 greased and lined 8 inch cake tins.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a knife comes out clean.

6. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out and letting cool fully (if you're making a day ahead, wrap the sponges in cling film while still slightly warm, it will keep them nice and moist!).

7. For the ganache, heat the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted, then remove from the heat and stir in the cream. Leave to cool (stir occasionally) until it thickens up to a spreading consistency.

8. Meanwhile, make the buttercream. Mix the butter with the icing sugar until it is very soft, pale and light, then mix in the pistachio cream until fully combined. Depending on the consistency of your pistachio cream, you might need to add a tbsp of milk to loose it up, it needs to be at a spreading consistency.

9. To stack the cake, level off the sponges with a serrated knife, and sandwich them with a generous layer of the pistachio buttercream, the raspberry jam and fresh raspberries (pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of the cake before adding the jam and raspberries to prevent them from oozing out when you stack!)

10. Coat the cake in a think layer of the ganache, using a palette knife or cake scraper to smooth, to create the crumb coat. Place this in the fridge to set before adding a thicker outer layer of ganache. Once this has also set, use the leftover ganache to pipe detailing and decoration on the cake.

11. Enjoy!

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