Darci Hannah: Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 10th, for those of you who are wondering, and I thought it would be a great time to share this delicious sponge cake recipe in case you don’t have anything for your mom yet and want to wow her, not only with your thoughtfulness, but with your mad baking skills. The truth is you don’t even need mad baking skills to make this delicious cake. It’s made with simple ingredients and just requires a bit of time and patience, all those things your mom will appreciate. While testing recipes to go into my latest Food & Spirits mystery, A SPIRITED SUPPER AT DUNDOON CASTLE, I knew that I wanted to include a classic British style sponge cake to serve with tea. After testing a few different recipes, I landed on this one. Then, just to be sure I was on the right path, I made it for my own mother. All I can say is that this cake passed the test with flying colors. My mother loved it. It’s the perfect dessert for an afternoon tea, or really any time of the day. Even breakfast.
Raspberry Sponge Cake
Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook time: 35 minutes
Serves 10
Ingredients:
6 large eggs, weighed on a food scale. You will see why this is important.
Half the weight of the eggs in sugar
3 tablespoons of hot water
Half the weight of the eggs in all-purpose flour
For the filling:
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1 pound or more, fresh raspberries
¼ cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 jar of raspberry jam
Parchment paper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350˚ F.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and weigh them. Write the weight down for reference.
Add half the weight of the eggs in sugar to the bowl. Then add the 3 tablespoons of hot water.
Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg mixture until it is thick and creamy. This will take around 5 or more minutes. The mixture should be thick enough to hold its shape.
Measure out half the weight of the eggs in flour. Sift the flour into the egg mixture and gently fold it in. The lightness of this batter will depend on the among of air that has been incorporated into the whisked eggs.
Grease and flour three 9-inch cake tins. Line the bottoms with parchment paper for easier removal. Then divide the mixture evenly between the three pans.
Place pans into the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the cake has risen and is a nice, golden-brown color. Remove and cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
Gently remove cooled cake from the pans, leaving the parchment paper on the bottom of each layer. This cake is very delicate and keeping the parchment paper on will help prevent the cake from cracking. At this point the cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap and placed into the freezer for up to one month.
Make the filling:
Pour whipping cream in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the vanilla and the ¼ cup of powdered sugar and beat on high until fluffy peaks form.
Begin filling the layers of the sponge cake. Place the first layer on a cake plate, then remove the parchment from the bottom. Spread half the jar of raspberry jam (about ½ cup) over the cake. Next, spread ¼ of the whipping cream over the jam. Next, arrange the fresh raspberries in the whipped cream, covering the layer. To complete the layer, spread another ¼ of the whipped cream over the fresh raspberries. Next, place the second layer of cake and complete the process again.
Place the third layer of cake on top of the second layer of raspberries. Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar. You can decorate the top with dollops of whipping cream and raspberries if you have extra. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.
Print a copy of the recipe here:
*For a chance to win a copy of A SPIRITED SUPPER AT DUNDOON CASTLE:
If you’re a mom, please let me know what would make your Mother’s Day special.
If you’re not a mother, please let me know why your mom is so special to you.
*Don’t forget to include your email address!
*Continental U.S. only please.
Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you.
Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com
Instagram: @authordarcihannah
Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah
Just Released!
A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle
By Darci Hannah
Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
Purchase link
When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .
Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well.
After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .
Trade Paperback Release!
A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor
By Darci Hannah
Book #1 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .
It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.
Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!
Coming this July!
Murder at the Campfire Cookout
By Darci Hannah
Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series
Preorder today!
When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .
Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.
Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.
But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .
Because no one is out of the woods yet.
