After making and successfully decorating my Raspberry Chocolate Layer Cake last weekend to celebrate my wedding anniversary, I got the urge to try out another cake. The problem was that I couldn’t bake another cake just for the four of us!
Luckily, we happened to get an invite to an outdoor get together with some friends of ours at their cottage, so I had a reason to try out another cake recipe! I was thinking about how much we liked the raspberry filling I made last weekend but that we found frosting on the cake a bit sweet. One of the icings that we really like is my peanut butter icing. I love this frosting because it has much less sugar than most American buttercreams, so it’s not overly sweet. Then it hit me … what about a peanut butter and jam sandwich cake? These are flavours straight out of my childhood. I would eat a peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwich for breakfast every day!
I already had a great filling and a great frosting, so I decided to pair those with a white cake, to mimic the white sandwich bread I would use for my sandwiches. The recipe for the cake is one from Cook’s Illustrated that I’ve made a few times. It uses two unique methods to give the cake a tender crumb. First, they use the “reverse cream” method, where you mix all dry ingredients including sugar, then gradually beat in the softened butter. This gives the cake a finer crumb. Second, they don’t have you beat the egg whites in their recipe. Instead you mix the whites with the milk and vanilla then add to the reverse creamed ingredients and then beat everything for about 1 minute until light and fluffy. This helps to keep the cake from becoming dry.
I had the idea to try another drip on top, but I wanted to make it a raspberry drip. When looking at recipes, I could only really see either dark or white chocolate ganache drips or ones that were made of fruit puree, but were really thin. I wanted this drip to hold its shape and to look like jam that was overflowing from the top of the cake. So I decided to try an experiment. I made extra raspberry filling and kept some of it to the side for the top. Then I melted it together with some white chocolate to give it some substance and help it harden. It worked! The resulting drip was thicker than you would usually want on a drip cake, but I kind of liked that, as I thought it looked more like jam. It tasted great too!
We had the cake after dinner tonight and the flavour was exactly what I wanted. It really tasted (and looked) like a peanut butter and jam sandwich, but in cake form!
In order to achieve the best textured cake, it is important to weigh your flour! Otherwise your measurement won’t be precise and your cake could be too dense and dry.
[recipe title=”Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwich Cake” servings=”8-12″ cooktime=”3 hours” difficulty=”moderate” description=”This whimsical cake showcases the classic combination of peanut butter and raspberry jam, sandwiched between layers of white cake. A childhood throwback! “]
[recipe-ingredients]
For the White Cake
-
– 1 cup (250 ml) whole milk at room temperature
– 6 large egg whites at room temperature
– 1 tbsp (15 ml) vanilla extract
– 2 1/4 cups (9 oz/255 g) cake flour
– 1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 oz/ 347 g) granulated sugar
– 4 tsp (18 g) baking powder
– 12 tbsp (170 g) unsalted butter softened and cut into 12 pieces
Raspberry Filling
- 3.5 cups (400 g) frozen raspberries
- 10 tbsp (125 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice
- 6 tbsp (90 ml) water, divided
- 3 tbsp (24 g) cornstarch
- 1 tbsp (30 ml) orange liqueur
Peanut Butter Frosting
-
– 2 cups (500 ml) peanut butter
– 12 Tbsp (170 g)unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
– 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
– pinch of salt
– 2 – 2 1/2 cups icing sugar
– 4-5 Tbsp heavy cream
Raspberry Jam Drip
- 60 g (3 1/2 oz) white chocolate
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) reserved raspberry filling
[/recipe-ingredients][recipe-directions]
For the Cake
- Adjust oven rack to middle position. Grease three 8-inch (20 cm) round cake pans and line with parchment paper. Then grease the parchment paper and flour pans.
- Whisk milk, egg whites and vanilla together in a small bowl.
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt on low speed until combined.
- Add butter, one piece at a time, and mix until only pea-sized pieces remain, about 1 minute.
- Add all but 1/2 cup (118 ml) milk mixture. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining 1/2 cup milk mixture and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Give batter a final stir by hand.
- Divide batter between prepared pans and smooth tops with a rubber spatula.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, 18-25 minutes.
- Let cakes cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes then remove from pans, discard pans and cool completely on racks, about 2 hours.
For the Raspberry Filling
- Combine raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and 3 tbsp (45 ml) water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Simmer until raspberries completely break down, 5-10 minutes.
- Pour into a fine mesh strainer (preferably metal), set over a bowl. Using a spoon, stir and press the mixture through the strainer to get as much of the juice into the bowl as possible. Discard the seeds.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and remaining 3 tbsp (45 ml) water.
- Clean out your saucepan and pour in the raspberry puree and cornstarch mixture. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens. Stir in orange liqueur.
- Transfer to a bowl, cover and let cool completely in fridge.
For the Peanut Butter Frosting
-
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with paddle attachments, cream butter, peanut butter, salt and vanilla until smooth.
3. Add icing sugar mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
4. Add 4 tbsp (60 ml) cream and mix on medium-high speed until you have a smooth, spreadable frosting, adding more cream or sugar as necessary.
5. Use immediately or keep chilled in the fridge, taking the frosting out to soften 10 minutes before use.
Cake Assembly
1. Place one layer of cake on your cake board. Spread a 1/2 cup (118 ml) of peanut butter frosting over the entire top of the cake.
2. Place 1/3 cup of the raspberry filling in the centre of the cake, then spread evenly, leaving a 1 inch (2.5 cm) border.
3. Place second layer on top and repeat frosting and filling layers.
4. Place third layer on top. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the entire top and side of the cake. This is your crumb coat. Chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour until the frosting has hardened.
5. Remove cake from the fridge and coat with a second layer of frosting. reserving enough to add decorative piping on top, if you wish. (Optional: press some toasted peanuts decoratively around the bottom of the cake.)
6. Chill the cake in the fridge while you prepare your raspberry drip.
For the Raspberry Jam Drip
- Combine chocolate and 1/2 cup (118 ml) reserved rasberry filing in a small bow.
- Microwave for 20 seconds then stir.
- Continue to microwave in 10 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until chocolate is completely incorporated into cream.
- The mixture will now need to cool slightly. While the ganache cools, take your cake out of the fridge. Stir the ganache intermittently until it is lukewarm and won’t melt the frosting. When the mixture is cool, you are ready to transfer it to either a piping bag or a squeeze bottle and begin your drip.
- Go around the perimeter of the top of your cake, alternately squeezing drips down the side and the border around the circumference of the cake. Squeeze the rest over the middle of the top of the cake and spread with a spatula.
[/recipe-directions][/recipe]
For the Cake: Whisk milk, egg whites and vanilla together in a small bowl.
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt on low speed until combined.
Add butter, one piece at a time.
Mix until only pea-sized pieces remain, about 1 minute.
Add all but 1/2 cup (118 ml) milk mixture. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining 1/2 cup milk mixture and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
Give batter a final stir by hand.
Divide batter between prepared pans and smooth tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, 18-25 minutes.
Let cakes cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes then remove from pans, discard pans and cool completely on racks, about 2 hours.
For the Raspberry Filling: Combine raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and 3 tbsp (45 ml) water in a medium saucepan.
Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Simmer until raspberries completely break down, 5-10 minutes.
Pour into a fine mesh strainer (preferably metal), set over a bowl. Using a spoon, stir and press the mixture through the strainer to get as much of the juice into the bowl as possible. Discard the seeds.
In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and remaining 3 tbsp (45 ml) water.
Clean out your saucepan and pour in the raspberry puree and cornstarch mixture.
Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens. Stir in orange liqueur.
Transfer to a bowl, cover and let cool completely in fridge.
For the Frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, with paddle attachments, cream butter, peanut butter, salt and vanilla until smooth.
Add icing sugar mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
Add 4 tbsp (60 ml) cream and mix on medium-high speed until you have a smooth, spreadable frosting, adding more cream or sugar as necessary. Use immediately or keep chilled in the fridge, taking the frosting out to soften 10 minutes before use.
Place one layer of cake on your cake board. Spread a 1/2 cup (118 ml) of peanut butter frosting over the entire top of the cake.
Place 1/3 cup of the raspberry filling in the centre of the cake, then spread evenly, leaving a 1 inch (2.5 cm) border. Place second layer on top and repeat frosting and filling layers.
Place third layer on top. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the entire top and side of the cake.This is your crumb coat. Chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour until the frosting has hardened.
Remove cake from the fridge and coat with a second layer of frosting. reserving enough to add decorative piping on top, if you wish. (Optional: press some toasted peanuts decoratively around the bottom of the cake.)
Chill the cake in the fridge while you prepare your raspberry drip.
Combine chocolate and 1/2 cup (118 ml) reserved rasberry filing in a small bow.
Microwave for 20 seconds then stir.
Continue to microwave in 10 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until chocolate is completely incorporated into cream.
The mixture will now need to cool slightly. While the ganache cools, take your cake out of the fridge. Stir the ganache intermittently until it is lukewarm and won’t melt the frosting. When the mixture is cool, you are ready to transfer it to either a piping bag or a squeeze bottle and begin your drip.
Go around the perimeter of the top of your cake, alternately squeezing drips down the side and the border around the circumference of the cake. Squeeze the rest over the middle of the top of the cake and spread with a spatula.
[…] about it that night, I thought trying with the Raspberry filling that I have used in both my Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwich Cake and my Raspberry Chocolate Drip Cake might work better. I knew that this filling worked well with […]