Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Surprise!! TWD - Berry Surprise Cake


Everyone loves a surprise, and so it is in this week's Tuesday with Dorie, hosted by Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen - there's a surprise in the middle of the lovely cake featured in this post.

Now I am not a huge fan of creamy cakes, but I did enjoy this one - the tartness of the berry "surprise" balanced out the sweetness of the cream, making for a satisfying mix. The base genoise, although a "diva" of a cake (most people's sank to some degree, as did mine), was a light and fluffy vehicle for the filling and topping, so that you were not wallowing in a feeling of fullness by indulging in a slice.

Without ado, you start off with a genoise (this is a somewhat flattering photograph of it - in reality, I was sure that it was more sunken):

which you chop the top off of, and carve out a "nest" for the filling:


then brush some kirsch-flavoured syrup in the base and up the sides of the nest before lining with the cream cheese-whole cream filling:


then pop some berries on top and cover them with the remainder of the filling:




and finally pop the top of the cake back on and smother the lot in whipped cream. Decorate with berries before slicing:


and enjoy!!!

Thanks to
Mary Ann for hosting TWD this week - you can find the full recipe at her site. And if one surprise is not enough, feel free to indulge by checking out variations of this cake at the TWD blogroll.

20 comments:

Finla said...

Wow that cake looks so cre&my delicious.
My hubby and daughter would love if i make this for them.

Tammy said...

your cake look absolutely delicious! I like the way the berries have melted into the filling. I used strawberries which weren't quite so melty

Megan said...

So that's what it's supposed to look like! Berries aren't in season right now, so I had to make do with frozen. But it sure looks tasty!

The Blonde Duck said...

I love surprises, esp. in cakes! :)

Anonymous said...

I love berries and cream as a combo, I think mainly because sometimes berries aren't as sweet as I want them to be! :D

Jules Someone said...

Looks lovely! Glad it turned out for you.

Engineer Baker said...

Beautiful! Yours turned out so well, I'm jealous :)

Pamela said...

You did a fabulous job with this cake! I love the blueberries and the raspberry combo you've got going on. I agree that it wasn't heavy at all. Great job!

Sara said...

This looks so pretty, you did a great job!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Happy Cook, I am sure that they would enjoy it.

Thanks Tammy - I was glad that raspberries are still affordable at the moment.

Hi Megan,Because the bulk of the berries are in the filling, I think frozen would be fine.

LOL Lorraine, a good point!

Thanks Jules - I am happy with my batting average on Dorie's cakes so far. Not so sure about some of the others I've made ...

Thanks Caitlin :)

Thanks Pamela - I ended up with some blueberries because I had some in the fridge, and didn;t want to break into my stocks of raspberries to finish off the decorating - so I thought that some mix and match would do the job.

Thanks Sara :)

LOL Blonde Duck, surprises are fun, yeah?

Amanda said...

Glad yours turned out well! Mine turned out pretty, but it fell too much and I wasn't happy with the flavor of the cake. Oh well, next week! :)

adele said...

Oooh. I love berry cakes. This looks tasty!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Amanda, agreed - there's always next week.

Hi Adele, I love berry anything - 'specially raspberries.

Rosie said...

Looks absolutely delicious!

Rosie x

Anonymous said...

Wonderful job on this! Glad it worked out so well for you!

Cakelaw said...

Thanks Rosie - it was surprisingly good.

Thanks Gretchen - there were a few bumps along the road, but it all came out in the wash.

Cooking for Comfort by Jennifer said...

Beautiful job!

Abby said...

Looks great - love the pink color! And I love Dorie - she is so nice! I once emailed her about something and she wrote me back. AWESOME.

The Caked Crusader said...

Great idea! I love genoese sponge but with the addition of such a lovely filling it turns it into something very special indeed

Cakelaw said...

Thanks Jennifer :)

Thanks Abby - I have heard that Dorie is very nice and will answer emails.
Glad to hear thatyou hve had a nice experience in dealing with her.

Hi Crusader, agreed - the simple things are often the best.