This chocolate raspberry cake is a delicious treat perfect served with lashings of cream.
The chocolate raspberry cake is the one to go for between the months of June and October, as this is when raspberries are in season. The combination of the chocolate and raspberry in this cake creates a lighter version of a Black Forest cake, fruity and indulgent, ideal for when you want something sweet but not too heavy. While we’ve gone for fresh raspberries in our chocolate sponge cake, if you’re making it out of season, go for frozen fruits. But be sure to fully defrost them before making the cake.
Ingredients
- 175g self-raising flour
- 2 tbsp cocoa
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 150g dark muscovado sugar
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 150ml rapeseed or sunflower oil
- 150ml milk
For the topping:
- 200g dark chocolate
- 300ml carton whipping cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 2 x 200g punnets raspberries
WEIGHT CONVERTER
Method
- Set the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas mark 3. Line a 28x18cm (11x7in) traybake tin with baking parchment.
- To make the cake, sift the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and stir in the muscovado sugar. Add the golden syrup. Lightly beat together the eggs, oil and milk, pour into the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepare tin, and bake for 25-30 mins, or until the cake is just firm to the touch in the centre. Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin for about 5 mins, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the topping, break the chocolate into pieces and place in a bowl. Bring the cream to the boil in a pan and pour over the chocolate, then add the icing sugar. Stir until the chocolate melts. Mix well to give a smooth consistency, or use a stick blender. Leave the ganache to cool until it’s a spreading consistency, either letting it cool at room temperature or to speed it up, place it in the fridge – but stir regularly.
- Spread the chocolate mixture over the top of the cake then arrange the raspberries on top of the ganache. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.
Top tips for making chocolate and raspberry cake
This tray bake would work just as well with other seasonal berries too such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries. Or if you're making for a kids' party you could up the sweet factor and choose to top it with Smarties, crushed Maltesers and more.
Why are traybakes good for novice bakers?
There's so much less to go wrong with a traybake. It's much easier to line a tray than a spring form tin, where you have to worry about sizing and cutting. Here you just lay the baking paper over the tray and push it down. The cake does not need to rise much as you're not cutting into layers - it's really just a case of mixing the ingredients, pouring in and baking. This is a great bake to do with kids too.
Can I use other fruits for the topping?
Blackberries and blueberries, or a mix of these and raspberries, would all work well for the topping. You could also use segments from a satsuma or clementine, but you will need to remove the outer membranes before you use them. It's quite a fiddly process but the orange flavour is delicious with the chocolate.
If you want to speed up the mixture process you might prefer using a stand mixer instead of a large bowl and electric hand whisk. If you’re looking for inspiration, Food Editor Jessica Dady wrote a glowing KitchenAid Stand Mixer review.
If you like the look of this tray bake you're going to love Mary Berry’s chocolate cake - with chocolate buttercream. We've also got a mouthwatering chocolate cake with strawberries to choose from and some fresh easy raspberry muffins for those of you looking for something simpler to make.