Raspberry Rose Heart Cake

This winsome Raspberry Rose Heart Cake will delight your guests and celebrate love, whether for Valentine's Day, a birthday, Mother's Day, or any other time you want a pick-me-up. Billows of whipped cream, bright fresh raspberries, and a delicate whiff of rose are generously sandwiched between light, airy layers of sponge (gluten-free, too!)

❤️ LOVE ❤️ LOVE ❤️ LOVE ❤️

Let's celebrate it all-the-time, anytime, and full-time. Let's show the people we love, how much we do.

We can show it with grand gestures, sure. But sometimes it's the little everyday ways we show it that mean the most . . . like with a special baked treat. Adding in a few hearts💘💘 and flowers🌹🌹doesn't hurt either😉.

This lovely Raspberry Rose Heart Cake is a cinch to make, but you wouldn't know it by its gorgeously decadent and appealing look. The simple sponge cake whips up in one bowl with a beater. (It doesn't contain any oil or butter, and less sugar than usual). The rich indulgence comes from the billows of fluffy whipped cream (also very lightly sweetened). Both the cake and the cream are gently scented with roses - a perfect marriage with the sweet, fresh raspberries (a winter indulgence, yes, but oh so worth it). A shower of rose petals is the final crowning glory.

Now, doesn't that say 'love' in the most simple and heartfelt way?

What You'll Need for this Raspberry Rose Heart Cake

It takes a few special ingredients, but they can also be omitted (see 'Substitutions', below) and you can make a plain sponge cake with whipped cream and berries.

• fresh raspberries - if it's summertime when you read this and you have a raspberry patch - how lucky are you? But if those luscious berries aren't in season, you may want to undulge in a couple punnets from the grocery store.
• flour - this cake works equally well with a good cup-for-cup gluten-free flour as it does with regular flour. I use my reliable gluten-free flour blend and it turns out beautifully every time.
• raspberry powder - you'll need raspberry powder (ground from freeze-dried raspberries). It's available online or from baking sections in large stores. You can also buy freeze-dried raspberries, grind them into a powder, and sieve out the seeds to make your own (that's what I did for the photo above). If you can't find them, you can also use raspberry flavouring and a few drops of natural pink food colour.
• rosewater - this is what'll give your cake that delicate floral rose flavour which melds so beautifully with the fresh raspberries.
• dried rose petals - optional, but oh-so-pretty. Make sure to use unsprayed food grade petals. Or just sprinkle a dusting of dried raspberry powder over the top of the cake.
• powdered gelatin - this helps stabilize the whipped cream so it holds its shape and cuts clean slices, rather than squishing out when you cut through the layers. It can be purchased in packets in any grocery store, or loose in bulk food stores or health food stores.

Substitutions

• Try halved strawberries or whole blueberries or blackberries instead of the raspberries.
• You can omit the rosewater completely, and add a teaspoon vanilla to the cake and a half teaspoon vanilla to the cream instead.
• You can also omit the raspberry powder from the cake and make a plain sponge cake (with just vanilla) and it'll still be a great dessert.
• Or use orange blossom water in the cake and the whipped cream instead of rosewater, and use blueberries in place of the raspberries (omit the raspberry powder in the cake).

How to Make the Cake

First, you'll make the simple Biskuitboden (a German type of sponge cake that whips whole eggs and contains no added fat). All you need to do is whip together the eggs, sugar, and salt on high speed in a stand mixer, for a full 10 minutes until it forms a voluminous, fluffy, pale-coloured sponge.

Then add in the flavourings and sift over the flour and baking powder. Gently fold it together, trying to knock out as little air as possible.

You'll quickly scrape it into a greased and lined pan and bake it in a preheated oven until the top springs back when lightly touched. If you've got a heart-shaped pan, great. But if not, a round one will be pretty, too.

While the cake is baking, whip up the cream and then add in a small amount of gelatin dissolved in water - this helps stabilize the cream and helps it keep its shape for a few days.

Once it's cooled, cut the heart-shaped cake in half horizontally with a serrated knife and spread the bottom with half of the whipped cream and half of the raspberries.

The carefully position the top half of the cake onto the bottom and cover it with the remaining whipped cream and raspberries. Finish it off with a soft pink drift of dried rose petals and you're ready to celebrate.

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Guten Appetit!