Raspberry & Pistachio Naked Cake

This multi-layered masterpiece is nothing short of a showstopper. Queen Professional adds flavour and convenience every step of the way, helping you to deliver a signature sweet creation that tastes even better than it looks enhanced with white chocolate frosting and raspberry caramel.

Prep

120 Mins, plus setting and chilling overnight

Cook

40 Mins

Portions

12

Download Recipe

Rosewater Persian Fairy Floss

Cornflour, to dust
220g caster sugar
120g water
50g Glucose Syrup
1 tsp Natural Rosewater Flavour

Pistachio Dacquoise

420g pistachios
300g icing sugar
75g plain flour
12 egg whites
140g caster sugar
60g melted butter
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
2 tsp Hansells Natural Vanilla Essence

Raspberry Mascarpone Filling

6 egg yolks
130g caster sugar
2 tbs orange liqueur
2 tsp Hansells Orange Flavoured Essence
10 g titanium gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water
375 g mascarpone
375 g créme friache
2 tsp Queen Pro. Organic Vanilla Bean Paste
125 g crushed raspberries

Raspberry White Chocolate Frosting

200 g white chocolate
200 g pouring cream
130 g créme fraiche
20 g raspberry puree

Raspberry Caramel

165 g caster sugar
55 g raspberry puree
40 mL orange liqueur
30 mL water

White Chocolate Bark

100 g white chocolate
10 g freeze-dried raspberries, crushed

To Serve

Fresh raspberries
Pistachios
Edible flowers

For fairy floss, grease and dust a small heatproof bowl with cornflour. Place sugar, water and glucose in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, without stirring, for 6-7 minutes until mixture reaches 131°C on a sugar thermometer. Remove from the heat, add the rosewater flavour and swirl to combine. Carefully pour into prepared bowl and set aside for 20 minutes until warm, but cool enough to handle. Dust a large bowl with cornflour to invert set sugar into the bowl. Using your fingers, create a hole in centre. Using hands, stretch sugar, continually rotating to form a 30cm sized circle (like a small bike tire). Twist to form a figure 8. Dip in cornflour and repeat 20 times, until thin hair-like strands of sugar form. Store fairly floss in an air-tight container until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 160°C, fan-forced. Line a 53cm x 33cm x 3cm deep gastronome tray with baking paper. For pistachio dacquoise, process pistachios, icing sugar and plain flour in a food processor until finely ground. Set aside. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar until mixture is thick and glossy. Transfer meringue to a large bowl. Fold pistachio mixture through meringue in three batches. Fold in butter, orange zest and vanilla extract. Divide batter evenly among prepared trays and smooth to an even layer. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool completely in trays. Using and 18cm diameter cake ring as a template, cut 3 x 18cm rounds and 2 x 9cm semicircles of cake.
For filling, whisk egg yolks, sugar, liqueur and essence in a bowl over a pan of simmering water for 6 minutes until mixtures reaches 84°C on a kitchen thermometer. Add gelatine and whisk to combine. Remove sabayon from heat. Transfer to an electric mixer and whisk on medium-high for 3-4 minutes until thick and cool. Whisk mascarpone, créme fraiche and vanilla bean paste until soft peaks form. Fold sabayon through mascarpone cream in batches until combined. Fold through crushed raspberries and set aside.
Line a 18cm cake ring with acetate. Place one round cake on base, top with one-third of mascarpone filling, top with another round of cake. Repeat layering with remaining filling and cakes. Cover and refrigerate overnight to set filling.
For white chocolate frosting, place white chocolate in a bowl. Place cream in a small saucepan and bring to the simmer. Pour over chocolate and set aside for 2 minutes. Whisk to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight until chilled. Transfer white chocolate ganache and créme fraiche to an electric mixer and whisk until firm peaks form. Fold through raspberry puree to tint. Spread icing over cake, leaving the cake slightly exposed to achieve the naked look. Pipe extra cream on top of cake. Refrigerate for 2 hours to set.
For caramel, cook sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, swirling the pan, for 4 minutes until sugar has caramelised. Remove from the heat. Add raspberry puree, liqueur and water and bring to simmer. Remove from the heat; refrigerate to cool completely.
For white chocolate bark, melt chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and spread chocolate over a large sheet of baking paper to 5mm thick. Sprinkle with crushed freeze-dried raspberries. Set aside at room temperature to set. Break bark into shards.
To decorate, top cake with chocolate bark, fairy floss, fresh raspberries, pistachios, edible flowers and drizzle with raspberry caramel.