Raspberry Lime Cake

I wanted to surprise my friend with a small and cool cake for her birthday.  Something geared for adults. Last year I made her this cake, so I wanted to make her something that was completely different.  I knew that I wanted a fluffy vanilla cake with a unique filling.  I decided to go with lime curd, which was a bit risky because not everyone likes lime.  I figured that if I added raspberries, it might make it safer.  Of course, I topped it with Swiss meringue buttercream (lime flavoured) because it recently became my favorite frosting. So light and fluffy, and not too sweet.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post! Kind of nervous!

Fluffy Vanilla Cake

Slightly adapted from here.

I used 2, 5-inch baking pans

Ingredients

2.5 egg whites (75g), room temperature

½ egg

½ cup whole milk, room temperature

1 teaspoons vanilla (I used ½ teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon LorAnn Princess Cake emulsion)

1.5 cups cake flour, sifted

1 cups sugar

½ Tablespoon baking powder

¼ cup + 2 Tablespoon (85g) salted butter, cut into cubes, cold

Directions

1.  Line the bottom of 2, 5-inch baking pans with parchment paper and grease and flour the sides.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In a bowl, mix egg whites, egg, milk, and vanilla. Set aside.

3.  In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, and baking powder.

4.  With the paddle on, add cubes of cold butter one at a time, waiting about 10 seconds between each addition. Keep mixing until you get a crumbly texture – there should not be any chunks of butter.

5.  Add the egg/milk mixture in 3 batches.  Mix until light and fluffy.

6.  Divide between baking pans. Bake for 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean – do not over bake.

7.  Cool for 10 minutes before taking out of pans. Once completely cooled, slice off domed top and into 2 layers.

Lime Curd

From here.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

Zest from 2 limes

2 eggs

½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from 2 limes)

¼ cup salted butter, cut into cubes

Optional: green gel food colouring

Directions

1.  Combined sugar, zest, eggs, and lime juice in a metal bowl and place over a pot of simmering water (double boiler).

2.  Whisk continuously until thickened, 10-15 minutes.

3.  Place butter in a bowl and strain the curd over the butter.  Mix until combined. Add a touch of green gel food colouring to enhance the green colour.

4.  Cool in refrigerator before using. 

Lime Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

2.5 (75g) egg whites

½ cup sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1.  Wipe down bowl of stand mixer and whisk attachment with vinegar using a paper towel.

2.  Combine egg white and sugar in the bowl and place over simmering water.  Whisk continuously by hand until the temperature reaches 140 degrees F.

3.  Place the bowl in the stand mixer and whip until stiff peaks form and the meringue has cooled.

4.  Switch to a paddle attachment and add cubes of butter one at a time while beating.  Beat until smooth and silky.

5.  Add salt and vanilla and beat to combine.

6.  Optional: Take 1/3 cup of buttercream out and reserve for making raspberry buttercream.

7.  To the remaining buttercream, add ¼ cup of lime curd and beat to combine.

8.  Add a little bit of green food colouring.

9.  For raspberry buttercream, whip with about 5 fresh raspberries.

Assembly

1.  Fill cake by placing a ring of buttercream on the edge of the first layer.  Fill will lime curd. Top with raspberries.  Repeat with remaining layers.

2.  Crumb coat cake by adding a layer of buttercream on the entire cake and scraping off excess.  Put in freezer for 5 minutes before adding final layer.

3.  Embellish with raspberry buttercream and fresh raspberries.

Verdict:  My friend was super surprised by the cake and it was perfect because we ended up having an impromptu birthday celebration for her.  The vanilla cake was fairly moist and had a nice crumb, although I kind of wished that it was a bit fluffier.  The lime curd was delicious and added a contrasting sourness to the sweetness of the cake. The raspberries were a perfect complementing flavour to the lime. The cake fed 8 adults and 3 kids (with 2 slices left over) and everyone liked it, even the kids!