Brandy Raspberry Cake

March 27, 2016

Brandy Raspberry Cake

Raspberry brandy cake, I am speechless. This cake is amazing. I made it for Easter and boy is it delicious, my family loved it. This cake is moist and has so many layers of flavor. The base is "biskvit" also known as Russian sponge cake, and it is soaked with a simple brandy syrup. In between the layers there are raspberries and a delicious cream. Topped off with some melted chocolate (mmm), some fresh delicate sweet raspberries, and drizzled with more chocolate. Read on to learn how to make it. I hope you enjoy!

What you need for the sponge cake:

6 room temperature eggs

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Fresh raspberries

What you need for the brandy simple syrup:

1/4 cup of brandy

3/4 cup of apple syrup

3 tablespoons of sugar

What you need for the cream:

2 8 oz packets of cream cheese at room temperature

1 16 oz tub of cool whip

1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1 Tablespoon of brandy

What you need for the chocolate:

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of oil

2 tablespoons of milk

How to make the sponge cake:

Start by mixing the eggs, sugar, and vanilla on high speeding using a stand mixer. The eggs should triple in volume and become a pale yellow color.

Sift in the flour by portions and mix it in by hand. Sift in about 1/4 cup at a time. Be very careful not to deflate the eggs. The cake depends on the eggs to keep its volume so it can rise when baking. The batter should thicken.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a round (9") baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Pour in all of the batter and place into a preheated oven. The cake should bake for 30-35 minutes. To check if its ready stick a toothpick on the side and take out. It should come out clean.

Using a butter knife go around the sides of the cake to get any cake off that got stuck to the pan. Let the cake cool off for about 10 minutes in the pan then invert onto a cooling rack and let cool off completely. I placed mine into the fridge for about 30 minutes to speed up the process. You can also bake these a day in advance if needed.

How to make the simple syrup:

Combine the apple syrup with the sugar on medium heat. Let the mixture heat up but don't bring to a boil. Then add in the brandy and stir it some more. Let warm up but do not let it boil. Take off the heat and let it cool.

How to make the cream:

Start by mixing the cream cheese using a standard mixer. Add in the cool whip slowly. Turn off the mixer add about 3-5 spoon of the cool whip and continue mixing. Do that until the entire container is in the mixer. The cream should double in volume and be fluffy. Add in the brandy and continue mixing.

Add in the entire can of the sweetened condensed milk and let mix for another 5 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides to make sure all of the cream cheese is incorporated, so there wont be any lumps.

How to make the chocolate:

Start by adding everything together and melt it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Take out of the microwave and stir using a whisk, If its not smooth and creamy place back into the microwave for 15-25 seconds. Take out of the microwave again and stir until creamy, or continue the process until nice and smooth.

Assembling the cake:

Using a serrated knife, cut the cake into 2 layers. Try to get the layers as even as possible.

Using a pastry brush glaze each layer with the simple syrup. Make sure to glaze the sides that are cut open. Save a prettiest side for the top of the cake to have a nice pretty finish.

Cut up raspberries and sprinkle them over the bottom layer of the cake. Pour some more simple syrup over the raspberries.

Transfer the cream to a piping bag or if you don't have a piping bag you can just use a spoon to get the cream on the cake and spread the cream out with a spatula. I used a round tip for the piping bag.

Place the next layer over the top of the bottom layer and continue cream the cake.

Try to make it nice and smooth. Try to make a nice and thick layer of frosting on the outer layer. I went over several times with cream.

To get a better smooth finish, rinse the spatula with hot water (make sure to wipe it off before using) and run it over the cream. That will melt the cream a little and make a smoother finish.