In a perfect world, with perfect days, bank accounts, and happy decent people with perfect pets; where there are perfect homes warmed by wood-burning fires; with perfectly tended back-gardens, big spacious kitchens, copper pots, generously-stocked cupboards, perfect recipes and the perfect moment: the most perfect cake for my birthday would be a chocolate raspberry cake!
Yes! Dark Chocolate and sweet, yet tart raspberries, married and living happily ever after. My dream come true. If I had to choose a favourite dessert I could not. It depends on many things. The place, the season, the trends, the ingredients. However, raspberries and chocolate are the first two ingredients that pop into my mind. I have no idea why. Raspberries are not native to the Island where I was brought up and still live.
Gozo is famous for figs, prickly pears, lemons and pomegranates. Very Mediterranean. Raspberries have only come along in recent years, whereas everything else has always been available. Convenient, yet sad. I usually keep to seasonal stuff, but on my Birthday, I made an exception. Let’s go crazy!
So, my favourite Valhrona chocolate and frozen raspberry puree were the two main ingredients. I imagined the final cake to be topped with 4 punnets of fresh raspberries, but on the day, raspberries where nowhere to be seen! Instead I found blackberries, the last of the pomegranates and locally grown strawberries.
A raspberry cake, layered with lush raspberry ganache and topped with beautiful fruits! Wow……And even though I promised myself not to work, I quickly sneaked on to my roof to catch the last moments of light and capture this beautiful cake on camera.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I have! The making and the eating have been divine.
Claire Borg
Raspberry Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
- Eggs - 5
- White Sugar - 250g
- Raspberry Puree (frozen) - 120g
- Plain Flour - 275g
- Baking Powder - 3 tsp
- Raspberry Ganache
- Dark Chocolate - 500g
- Salted Butter - 130g
- Raspberry Puree - 200g
Instructions
For the Raspberry Sponge
Separate 4 of the eggs and whisk the yolks together with 1 full egg and sugar till light and creamy. Add the raspberry puree (i bought frozen) and beat together. Sift the flour and baking powder and fold in. In a separate bowl whisk the whites with a pinch of salt till they form stiff peaks. Fold gently into the cake mix. Transfer into a buttered and floured 8 inch round cake tin. Bake in a hot oven set on 170ºC for about 45 min or until ready (insert metal skewer and should come out clean).
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