This is the best raspberry vanilla poppy seed cream cake ever! Simple layers of fragrant sponge cake, homemade raspberry jam and smooth vanilla poppy seed French buttercream make a wonderful and delicious combination. A wonderful combination of sweet and tangy and a bit of a crunch. It is a sure hit, great for any occasion.
I love it when the recipe works as you wanted it to work. This raspberry vanilla poppy seed cream cake must be one of my most beautiful and delicious cakes to date. It looks almost like made by a pastry chef. Wink. I am so proud of it.
The sponge cake is a light cake made with only three ingredients: eggs, flour and sugar. Because it is leavened by the air beaten into separated egg yolks and egg whites, it’s incredibly airy and light. I added some marzipan, lemon and vanilla to the cake, too. It is really easy and quick to make.
Another delicious ingredient, which holds the whole cake together, is buttercream. I decided on making French buttercream. This type of buttercream is delicious already as it is. To read more about this buttercream jump over my French buttercream recipe I’ve made last Easter (orange Easter cake). However, this time I enhanced it with vanilla and poppy seeds.
I love poppy seeds. Poppy seeds give a lovely look, flavour and a bit of a crunch. They are also rich in vitamin B, fiber, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus. Some recipes suggest soaking them before use, but I skipped that step. As a result, they stayed crunchy and they gave a nice structure to the buttercream.
Adding a fruity jam layer to the cake is just the best you can do. Even better, when you make the jam yourself. I posted my homemade raspberry jam recipe a couple of weeks ago. Well, now, I used it in these lovely small cakes. Making this raspberry jam is easy and quick. Besides, you can spoon it on yogurt, muesli, ice cream, pie or on pancakes. Delicious.
A quick tip, store the cakes in the fridge. Before serving, allow the cake to come to room temperature. As a result, the buttercream will develop more flavour and the whole cake will taste more rounded up and delicious.
Additionally, if you love cakes check these out: blueberry buttermilk no-bake cake or this apple-cinnamon cheesecake.
Ingredients for 4 raspberry vanilla poppy seed cream cakes (Ø 8cm):
- 100 g marzipan
- 3 eggs (room temperature, separated)
- a splash of water
- 2 drops of lemon paste
- 1 drop of vanilla paste
- 75 g flour
- 75 g sugar
- a pinch of salt
Ingredients for vanilla poppy seed French buttercream (filling and icing):
- 200 g butter (room temperature, soft)
- 72 g eggs
- 72 g sugar
- 3 drops of vanilla paste
- 2 drops of tonka bean paste
- half a pinch of salt
- 2-3 Tbsp of poppy seeds
Ingredients to finish the cake:
- 90-100 g raspberry jam
- 20 fresh raspberries
To begin, separate the eggs. Keep the egg yolks in a cup and put the egg whites into a bowl. Beat the egg whites by slowly adding the sugar until stiff peaks. Put aside and preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Then, prepare the sponge cake. In one bowl, crumble the marzipan add some drops of water (adding a bit of a time if needed) and mix (I used a hand mixer). Once it is smooth, mix in a pinch of salt, lemon paste and vanilla paste. While mixing, add the egg yolks, one at a time and mix until fluffy and airy (around 5 minutes).
At this point, fold in one-third of the egg whites (always folding from the bottom up) using a silicone spatula. When part of the egg whites is incorporated, sieve in the flour and continue with the folding movements. Then, fold in the remaining egg whites until well incorporated but still airy.
Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and pour the batter on it. Spread it in an evenly thick layer and put it to bake for 9-10 minutes or until golden.
After the sponge cake is baked, remove it from the baking sheet. Lay another parchment paper on top and flip it over. Peel the parchment paper off and allow it to cool.
Vanilla poppy seed buttercream
In the meantime, prepare a mixer, two bowls, one small pot and a spatula. Put the soft butter in one bowl and beat it until pale (almost white) and fluffy. Then, add a pinch of salt, vanilla and tonka bean paste. Mix shortly and put aside.
Furthermore, pour some water (two fingers high) into the pot and bring to a light simmer. Add the eggs and sugar to the other bowl (heat-proof). Once the water starts to simmer, place the bowl over the pot (the water shouldn’t touch the bottom of the bowl) and mix at high speed until pale yellow, fluffy and slightly warm to the touch.
More, remove the bowl from the pot, place it on a kitchen towel and continue beating the eggs for about 12-15 minutes or until double in volume and cold to the touch (bowl included).
At this point, slowly (a couple of spoons at a time) add the eggs to the butter, mixing at low speed. Once all is good combined, stir in the poppy seeds and put them aside.
How to put the layer cake together
Take a small board (which fits your fridge) and use it to safely move the cakes. With one of the cake rings cut out 12 sponge cake layers. Each cake will have three sponge cake layers. Keep the remaining sponge cake for another recipe, such as cake pops or rum balls.
Then, fill one piping bag with the raspberry jam and another one with half of the buttercream. Furthermore, put the small cake rings on the board. Firstly, place one cake layer in each of the rings and push it to the bottom. Secondly, pipe the buttercream on top of it. Try to make it as thick as the cake layer and evenly high. However, the edge should be a couple of millimetres higher.
Thirdly, pipe the raspberry jam on top of the buttercream layer (inside the buttercream edge). Then add another sponge cake layer, buttercream and jam. Finish with the third sponge cake layer and place the board with the cakes in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Once the cakes are chilled, slide with a small knife on the inside of the ring (between the cake and the ring). In order to get the cake out, slightly push it either from the top or bottom.
It is time to finish the cakes. Pipe some more buttercream on top and the sides of the first cake and, using a spatula, spread it as evenly and straight as possible. To get a really straight side, use a scraper. Then, smooth out the top of the cake, moving the spatula from the edge towards the centre of the cake.
Finally, decorate the bottom edge with some poppy seeds and top the cake with fresh raspberries filled with raspberry jam. Do the same with the remaining three cakes. The delicious raspberry vanilla poppy seed cream cake tastes best at room temperature.
Enjoy.
