Raspberry & Lemon whisper cake

It is definitely summer here in Perth. We have recently experienced quite a few days above 40 degrees (celcius) and a lot of days in the high 30s. That isn’t the best weather to encourage baking and as a result the oven has been getting a bit of a rest.

One of the few things I have baked recently is this whisper cake. After the holiday period, I was looking for a treat that was a bit lighter and I found this recipe in the Australian Healthy Food Guide magazine. I’ve made it twice, once as a full sized ring cake, and once in my 12 cup mini bundt pan (which I’ve had for ages and had never used until now). The result both times was a delicious and moist cake. The flavours remind me of my favourite citrus (and coconut) cupcakes with raspberry frosting, but with a lot less fat/calories. This recipe is going into the favourites list! It is a very easy recipe, great for picnics and a lot easier to make in this heat than pastry from scratch, which was the other thing I baked recently for a picnic (mini quiches).

Raspberry-lemon whisper cake

I have made this in a 24cm ring cake tin and a 12 cup mini bundt pan

Serves 12-14

Ingredients

 Cake

• 2 eggs (59g eggs)
• 200g caster sugar
• 200g low-fat Greek style yoghurt
• A pinch of salt
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 100g ground almonds (almond meal)
• 150g self raising flour
• 1 ¼ cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Icing

• Lemon juice (approximately the juice of half a lemon)
• 6 tablespoons icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C fan forced (190C without fan). Grease your tin with baking spray (the cake will stick if you don’t grease them).
2. In a large bowl (or in a stand mixer) whisk together the eggs and caster sugar until the mix is pale and creamy. In a separate bowl, combine the yoghurt, salt and lemon zest.
3. When the egg/sugar mix is pale and creamy, gently stir in the yoghurt mix. Then add the ground almonds and flour and fold this in gently. Finally fold in the raspberries.
4. Pour the mix into a ring cake tin or 12 cup mini bundt pan. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes for the ring cake tin or 25 minutes for the mini bundt pan, until the cake is golden and bounces back when you touch it.
5. Allow the cake to cool in the tin before turning out on to a cake stand or serving plate.
6. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and then gradually stir in the lemon juice until you achieve the consistency you prefer (thin for just a light glaze or thicker for more of an icing). Drizzle over the cake and decorate if you like with some raspberries and mint leaves (optional).

Adapted from Raspberry-lemon whisper cake – Australian Healthy Food Guide January 2014