White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake with White Chocolate Ganache and Marshmallow Frosting

I kind of made up this recipe as I went along. It turned out to be a delicious, light, fluffy cake that is absolutely irresistible! I prefer the marshmallow frosting for this particular cake as the cake itself and the ganache is quite rich and the marshmallow balances it quite nicely. Of course you could also use a buttercream or cream cheese frosting instead. This is best eaten the day it's made as the marshmallow's texture changes a little overnight (how convenient!)

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake with White Chocolate Ganache and Marshmallow Frosting

For the Cake:

250g butter, softened

1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 cups flour

2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

1 cup white chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 180ºC and grease and line two 22cm tins

1. Beat butter until pale and creamy then gradually add sugars and vanilla essence

2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition

3. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix to combine

4. Mix in 1/3 of the dry ingredients until just combined and then 1/3 of the milk. Continue alternating until all the milk and all the dry ingredients are well incorporated

4. Fold through raspberries and white chocolate

5. Pour mixture into the two tins and bake for 50-60 minutes (check at 45minutes)

6. Let cool in tins for 5-10 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack

For the Ganache:

250g white chocolate (block or buttons)

1/2 cup cream

1. Melt the chocolate and cream in a heat-proof ceramic or metal bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring constantly

2. Remove from heat when the chocolate is almost melted as the heat from the bowl will melt the remaining little pieces and you do not want to cook your ganache.

3. Refrigerate until thickened

For the Marshmallow Frosting:

125g caster sugar

2 large egg whites

1 tsp vanilla essence/extract

1. Lightly mix sugar and egg whites and vanilla in a heat-proof bowl.

2. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and use a thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature, stirring occasionly

3. After 3-4 minutes when the mixture is around 40ºC, rub a bit of mixture between your fingers to make sure it is smooth and that there are no sugar grains left.

4. You can either use it now if it is ready or keep heating it until all the sugar is dissolved

5. Pour the mixture in a stand-mixer or use an electric hand whisk and whip on medium/high until the base of the bowl is no longer hot and you have stiff, glossy, white peaks.

To assemble:

1. Spread the ganache on the top of one of the cakes and place the other cake on top. Lightly press down on top to sandwich the cakes together

2. Dollop the marshmallow frosting on the top of the top cake and spread to the edges then finally decorate with toppings of you choice. (I used freeze dried raspberries, chopped white chocolate and silver cachous.)