Hvit sjokolade bringebærkake dekket med en gradert rosa italiensk smørkrem og delikate hjerter.

• Slå sammen de våte ingrediensene i en mellomstor bolle. Ha i sitronskallet. Ikke bekymre deg om du fremdeles har små smørklumper i røren, den vil bli bra etterhvert!
• Bland det våte i det tørre og visp til det er akkurat. Fold inn frysetørrete bringebær til slutt og bland til det akkurat er nok.
• Fordel kakemiksen likt på kakeformene.
• Stekes ca 25-30 minutter inntil de er akkurat ferdige.

Hvit sjokolade smørkrem

1. Bland bringebær, sitronsaft, sitronskall og sukker i en liten kjele på medium til lav varme. Mash og varm opp for et minutt opp til kokepunktet. Kokes til halv mengde, eller omtrent tre minutter. Strain og plasser i en liten bolle for å kjøle ned. 
2. Rør smøret mykt i en mikser med paddle attachment.
3. Bland inn melisen og saltet. Vispes til den er kremet.
4. Bland inn smeltet og avkjølt hvit sjokolade. Miks til det er godt blandet og fløyeslsmyk.
5. Del smørkremen i to porsjoner.
6. Bland i vanilje ekstrakt i en av porsjonene.
7. Bland 2 1/2 ss av bringebær/sitron/sukkerblandingen i den andre porsjonen med smørkrem. Blir konsistensen for flytende, bland i 2 ss med melis om gangen inntil den får riktig konsistens.
8. Plasser begge smørkremene i to separate sprøyteposer med tuppen klippet av. Legg de 2 sprøyteposene inn i en annen sprøytepose med en stor rund tipp eller med tuppen klippet av.

Italiensk smørkrem

1. Pisk eggehvitene, salt og cream of tartar, sakte og ha i 1/3 kopp sukker og fortsett piskingen til myke topper formes.
2. I en medium kjele hell i resten av sukkeret og 1/3 kopp vann, plasser på medium til lav varme.
3. Rør til sukkeret smelter og blir klart.
4. La den stå på medium til høy varme til den når 235-240 F^o.
5. Dryss sukkerblandingen i marengsen umiddelbart
6. La mikseren gå til marengsen når romtemperatur, ca 10 minutter.
7. Bland inn romtemperert smør til marengsen en spiseskje av gangen.
8. Bland inn salt og vaniljeekstrakt dersom du velger det.
9. Pisk til smøret er godt blandet og røren har fått en silkemyk konsistens.
10. Del i 5 boller. Behold en bolle hvit. Legg til farge til hver porsjon gradert slik at fargestyrken øker.
11. Flytt porsjonene til separate sprøyteposer.

Hjertene

1. Tegn hjerteformer i forskjellige størrelser på baksiden av bakepapiret og snu det.
2. Smelt candy meltsene i mikroen. Hell massen over i en sprøytepose og klipp av tuppen.
3. Pipe hjertene i følge tegningene.
4. La hjertene kjøle ned og bli harde.

Montering

1. Sprøyt den rosa/hvite sjokolade smørkremkomboen mellom hvert kakelag.
2. Dekk kaken med et tynt lag crumb coat og la den kjøle 10-15 minutter.
3. Når kaken har fått kjøle seg net, start med den graderte italienske smørkremen, start med hvit, nedenfra og oppover to runder med hver fargegradient til toppen.
4. Forsiktig jevn ut med en spatel først på toppen og så siden.
5. Pynt med hjerter.

Notater og tips

You can sub in fresh raspberries for the freeze dried ones. Just cut them into smaller pieces so they don’t turn into puddles in your cake and destabilize things. 

1.Preheat oven to 340 degrees F. Butter and flour three 6-inch pans. I use cake strips on my pans for more even baking as well.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Beat the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add lemon zest.

Don’t worry if your still have small chunks of butter, it will all work out! Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in dried raspberries at the very end and mix until just combined. Divide the mixture evenly into the cake pans. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch.

4. Beat the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar, slowly add in 1/3 cup of sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form. In a medium saucepan add the remaining sugar and 1/3 cup water then place on medium-low heat. Stir until sugar melts and becomes clear. Maintain at medium-high heat until temperature reads 235-240F. Drizzle the sugar into the mixer immediately. Run mixer until meringue is cool/tepid.

5. Add room temperature butter into running mixer one tablespoon piece at a time. Add the salt and vanilla if using. Beat until butter is combined and mixture has reached a silky consistency. Divide into 5 bowls. Keep one bowl white. Add food coloring to each batch to achieve a gradient look. Transfer colors to separate piping bags.

6. In a small saucepan over medium low heat combine raspberries, lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar. Mash and heat for a minute. Bring to a simmer. Simmer until reduced by half, or about three minutes. Strain and transfer to a small bowl and chill.  In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add confectioners sugar and salt. Beat until creamy. Add in melted and cooled white chocolate. Mix until incorporated and smooth. Divide batter in half. Add vanilla to one batch. Add 2 1/2 tbsp of the reduction to the other batch of buttercream. If the consistency become runny, mix in confectioners sugar 2 tbsp at a time until thickened. Transfer both batches to separate piping bags with the tips snipped off. Add the 2 piping bags to another piping bag fitted with a large round tip or with the tip snipped off.
7. Line up 3 printable heart sheets to use as a guideline or stencil. Add a layer of parchment paper over the sheets. Microwave candy melts. Transfer to a piping bag and snip off the tip. Pipe hearts according to the stencil. Let the hearts cool and harden.

8. Pipe the pink/white chocolate buttercream combo between each cake layer.

9. Cover the cake with a thin crumb coat and chill for about 10-15 minutes.

10. Once the cake has chilled, start the Italian buttercream gradient with the white, then work your way up from bottom to top.

11. Carefully smooth with an offset spatula.

12. Add hearts to the cake.

I’m horrible at drawing hearts (in spite of having been an art major…) so I made a pattern up on the computer, printed it out a copies, covered them in parchment paper and piped my hearts using the candy melt. You can printout the template below the recipe if you’d like to make the same hearts I did. When you make an ombré cake you’re going to separate your buttercream into 5 batches. One will be uncolored and then you will gradually add more coloring to each batch to create a gradient. I used a soft pink gel food coloring but you could add either raspberry juice or a raspberry reduction to color and flavor your buttercream.

A raspberry vanilla cake filled with white chocolate buttercream and then covered in a creamy Italian buttercream. Did I mention the pink ombré and all of the delicate candy melt hearts?? So this cake was inspired by my Winter Wonderland Cake. I’ve changed the flavors around a bit, altered the color scheme and of course made a cascade of hearts! If you’re a master chocolatier you can try making them with white chocolate but candy melts are SO much easier to work with, trust me. If you wanted to simplify things you could totally make just one type of buttercream for the decoration scheme, you might just have to make a batch and a half. I added orange zest to the batter and loved the aroma and subtle taste it added. You can TOTALLY use fresh raspberries in this recipe, just cut them into quarters and toss with two tablespoons of flour so you don’t end up with liquid raspberry puddles in the your cake.

Kilde: Preppy Kitchen