Happy Monday everyone, how gorgeous was the weather over the weekend! I hope that you got out and were able to enjoy it, I hosted a lovely private baking classes, had a BBQ with friends and generally pottered around the house it was bliss! Now that Spring/Summer feels like it’s almost here I love cakes that are a little softer and not so heavy with icing - plus a good chocolate cake is something you can never say no to! I had so much fun making this for our weekly family dinner and topping it off with these gorgeous floral cake toppers from Wink - aren’t the sweetest cake toppers ever, this would be such a delicious cake to serve for a lovely afternoon tea! x
Click read more for the recipe.

Chocolate & Raspberry Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

2 1/2 cups (365g) plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 3/4 cups (385g) caster sugar
250g butter, melted
2 tablespoons vanilla essence
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups (375ml) milk
3/4 cup dutch cocoa powder
1/4 cup raspberry jam
Preheat oven to 160°C. Line the base of a 20cm round cake tin and butter and flour the sides.
In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder and sugar and whisk to combine. Gently melt the butter, cocoa powder and half vanilla in a small saucepan until melted. Add the vanilla to the milk and then pour into the flour mixture and mix to combine, add the eggs one at a time and then the chocolate mixture. Dived your cake in half - 770g per cake and pour into your prepared tin and bake for 30-35min or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 10min before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
If you are like me and only have one cake tin (not four of the same size) make sure you thoroughly clean the cake tin after each use and run it under cold water to cool it down between uses – you will also have to prepare the cake tin each time for each cake.

cream cheese icing

175g cream cheese, room temperature 60g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Using a whisk attachment, whisk the butter and cream cheese together until pale and creamy. Gradually add the icing sugar until smooth and creamy then add the vanilla essence.

Assembling your layer cake

Once both cakes are cool - using a serrated bread knife gently layer the tops of both cakes. Using a small amount of icing, ice the cut side of one of the cakes and place onto your cake stand so that it won’t move around. On the other cake, smooth the raspberry jam onto the cut side and set aside. Smooth 1/4 cup of cream cheese icing onto the top of the first cake and then very gently place the other cake (jam side down) on top of the first. Add another 1/4 cup of icing to the top, and adorn with pretty cake flags to serve. x