Fruit Cake

A lovely sponge cake filled with creamy fruit custard and jelly, covered with orange mascarpone frosting. This cake recipe is designed to let the fruits shine out. The frosting is flavoured with sweet and citrus orange, and the custard is filled with fruit chunks. The jelly is flavoured with strawberries, and the cake top is loaded with fresh fruits. All the ingredients combine to create a vibrant summer cake. If you are someone that loves fruits in desserts, this is a go-to recipe for you.

Serves: 8

Ingredients

Sponge Cake

1½ cup Flour

1¼ tsp Baking powder

3 Eggs

Pinch of Salt

1 cup Castor sugar

2 tsp Vanilla extract

60g unsalted Butter

1 cup Full-Fat milk

Custard

2 cups full-Fat milk

3 tbsp Custard powder

1 tbsp Cornflour

1 tbsp Vanilla extract

2 chopped Strawberries

6-7 chopped Blueberries

4-5 Raspberries

½ chopped Kiwi

6-7 chopped Grapes

Strawberry Jelly

4 tbsp Strawberry jelly powder

½ cup Boiling water

⅓ cup Cold water

Orange Mascarpone Frosting

250g Mascarpone

1 cup Heavy cream

2 tbsp Orange juice

1 tbsp Orange zest

1 cup Powdered sugar

Method

Step 1- Sponge Cake

Preheat the oven to 170°c. Line an 8" inch cake tin with parchment and grease the sides with butter.

Step 2

In a bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together. Then in another bowl, add yolk and sugar. Beat on medium till mixture is thoroughly combined, pale and doubles in size.

Step 3

In a saucepan, add milk, butter and vanilla extract. Place on heat and bring to a light simmer, melting the butter entirely.

Step 4

Then add dry ingredients to the yolk sugar mixture, ⅓ at a time. Once thoroughly combined, scrape the bowl down. Then add the wet ingredients ⅓ at a time. Repeat till all the ingredients are mixed in, scrape the bowl down, and mix for 30 seconds.

Step 5

Then transfer the batter to the cake tin. Bang the tin against the counter a couple of times. Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or till the toothpick test is passed.

Step 6

Then take the cake out and let it rest in the tin for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edges. Open the tin and transfer the cake to a cooling rack.

Step 7

After 40-50 minutes, with a bread knife, level your cake and cut it into 2 equal layers. Then cling wrap the cake layers and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.

Step 8- Vanilla Custard

Add milk, custard powder, cornflour, and vanilla extract to a saucepan. Whisk until combined. Place on medium-low heat.

Step 9

Whisk the custard occasionally. Bring the milk to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and whisk continuously till the custard thickens.

Step 10

Once the custard is thick, remove the heat and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Let the custard rest for 15-20 minutes. Cling wrap the bowl and place it in the refrigerator.

Step 11

Before piping, add strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, grapes and raspberries to the custard and whisk till smooth.

Step 12- Jelly

In a bowl, add jelly powder and hot water. Mix in the powder, then immediately add cold water and mix well. Place in the refrigerator for 4 hours or till the jelly sets completely.

Step 13- Orange Mascarpone Frosting

In a bowl, add cold mascarpone and, with a hand beater, cream the cheese till smooth.

Then pour the heavy cream slowly while beating the cheese. Scrape down the bowl.

Step 14

Add orange juice and zest. Then beat the frosting till soft peaks. Now add 1 tbsp powdered sugar at a time and beat until stiff peaks.

Step 16

Then scrape the bowl down and beat for another 30 seconds. To a piping bag, add the frosting.

Step 17- Assembly

After 1 hour, place the cake layers on a cake board/plate. Make a dam with the frosting on the edges of the cake layer.

Step 18

Add the vanilla custard generously and make a well in the middle. Add the strawberry jelly in the middle. Now place the second cake layer on top.

Step 19

Start spreading the frosting over the cake and on the sides. Level the frosting on top and scrape the excess frosting from the side. Add fresh fruits on top of the cake and place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or till serving.

Tips

1. Grease the cake tins evenly and thoroughly. If you don't, there's a chance the cake might get stuck to the edges.

2. Don't boil the bring; otherwise, it might curdle the cake batter.

3. To check if the cakes are made, insert a toothpick in the centre, which should come out clean.

4. While levelling the cakes, make sure to use a sharp knife.

5. If you're in a hurry, place the cake layers in the freezer for 30-40 minutes.

6. If you don't whisk the custard occasionally, you might end up having lumps in the custard.

7. Only use cold mascarpone while making the frosting.

8. When assembly, make sure all the ingredients are adequately chilled.