Baking | Dark Chocolate, Raspberry & Quark Layered Cake ... still in the pink of October! - Passionate About Baking

Baking | Dark Chocolate, Raspberry & Quark Layered Cake … still in the pink of October!

“I believe in pink”
Audrey Hepburn

It was just another one of those days … racing from dawn to dusk. In the middle of the madness, I got ambitious. ’twas the parents anniversary and even though we decided to do brownies and ice cream, I suddenly thought I’d give a cake a go. A Dark Chocolate, Raspberry & Quark Layered Cake happened!

The cake just happened. There was no plan in mind. I left home quite early for a PTM at school. Got back home and had just begun to get the brownies going, when I got a call from a magazine.

Dark Chocolate, Raspberry & Quark Layered Cake

They wanted to do a production shoot of my signature bake, the process, baking, everything! “Errr…. for when might that be?” I inquired. ‘Today,‘ said the sweet lady, very apologetically. That was obviously not going to happen. I had to say no of course….. but the wild idea of ‘signature’ got stuck in my head!

Brownies were hurriedly swapped for a chocolate sponge. It’s good we’re still in October, though the heart beats like we’re almost knocking on Decembers’ door}. The cake would have PINK; any form of pink to spread the message about breast cancer awareness. Strawberries are a tad late this year, but I am fortunate to have several bags of Del Monte raspberry fruit filling in my freezer.

It’s a nice product to have on hand and thaws really quick. Another favourite to have on hand is quark. I make it often. To tie it all together, nothing like some good quality dark chocolate on hand and life seems worthwhile after all. I hurriedly doodled my signature chocolate collar for the cake, and the leftover melted chocolate found it’s way into a freehand cake topper!

It was a race to the finish … one in which I never got down to actually wishing the parents during the course of the day. Showed up at their doorstep just in time for dinner, cake and kids in tow! We enjoyed it!

Recipe: Dark Chocolate, Raspberry & Quark Layered Cake

Summary: Dark chocolate and raspberry are a match made in heaven. Quark adds a nice sweet-tart balance to the cream filling. This is a nice dessert cake to make ahead.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Ingredients:

Chocolate Sponge
4eggs
100g raw sugar {or powdered sugar}
1t vanilla extract
20g cocoa powder
30ml extra virgin olive oil
125ml cup milk, lukewarm
75g plain flour
1t baking powder
pinch salt
Quark Raspberry Cream Filling
200g low fat cream
50g sugar
200g quark
100g raspberry fruit filling {Del Monte}
Dark Chocolate Ganache Topping
150g dark chocolate
100g low fat cream
Filigree
75g dark chooclate

Method:

Chocolate Sponge
Line the bottoms and sides of on 7″ spring form tin. Preheat oven to 180C.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Reserve.
Mix the cocoa powder, olive oil and milk to a smooth, thick pour-able paste. Reserve.
Beat the eggs and sugar over simmering water on high speed for about 10 minutes until the mixtures becomes thick and mousse like, tripling in quantity {Thermomix, Speed 4, Butterfly insert, 37C, 10 minutes or more}
Take off simmering water, add vanilla extract and continue beating for 3-4 minutes until it cools down a bit. {Thermomix, Speed 4, Butterfly insert, 3-4 minutes}
Slowly pour in the cocoa mixture, beating on low until incorporated.
Gently fold in the flour mixture in 3-4 goes. {Thermomix, Reverse Speed 2}
Pour batter into prepared tin.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until the sponge springs back when touched lightly, or a tester comes out clean. {Don’t overbake as the cake will have a dry texture, and will not be light}
Cool on rack for 5 minutes, remove from tin and cool completely. Cut into 3 horizontal layers.
Quark Raspberry Cream Filling & Sides
Beat the cream and sugar until medium peaks, then beat in the quark and raspberry fruit filling until smooth and light. Taste and adjust sugar if required.
Dark Chocolate Ganache Topping
Place the dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each rest, until the chocolate has melted.
Add the cream and whisk well until smooth and cool. {Alternatively, place both ingredients in a heavy bottom pan, and hear on simmer until both melted. Whisk well until smooth. Leave to cool}
Assembling
Place first layer on serving platter and sandwich the layers with half the butter cream.
Frost the sides and top with the remaining Quark Raspberry Cream.
Top with dark chocolate ganache.
Chill for 2-3 hours for the flavours to mature and cake to become moist.
Wrap with a filigree collar if you like.

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Comments

thelittleloaf says:

2012/10/30 at 11:02 pm

What a wonderfully pretty cake and a great cause. I adore the chocolate detail round the edge!
thelittleloaf´s last [type] ..Chocolate Peanut Butter Feuilletine Cheesecake Bars

uma says:

2012/10/30 at 11:21 pm

I love pink too.. raspberry n chocolate both are my fav.. can’t wait to try this
uma´s last [type] ..Whole Wheat Tandoori Chicken Pizza

Rosa says:

2012/10/30 at 11:24 pm

A beautiful cake! Quark is such a wonderful ingredient.

Cheers,

Rosa

Denise says:

2012/10/30 at 11:41 pm

Vindee, as always, lovely. Love chocolate and raspberries together – two favorite flavors! Could I use cream cheese instead of quark? Cannot get quark here.
Denise´s last [type] ..The Back Burner | Caramelized Pork

- Deeba @ PAB says:
  
  2012/10/31 at 6:25 am
  
  Ola Denise. Thank you. Yes, of course you can use cream cheese. I use quark as a substitute for all things from creme fraiche to whipping cream to cream cheese as it’s easily homemade and we donot get cream cheese locally here in India.
  
Colette @ JFF! says:

2012/10/31 at 1:47 am

Quark’s a cheese! Ya learn something new each day. And that filigree collar is so cute!!
Colette @ JFF!´s last [type] ..Small-town Charm: Chili Crimini Corn Chowder

Neha says:

2012/10/31 at 3:04 am

Lovely lovely looking cake….

Donna says:

2012/10/31 at 3:52 am

This…is….the most classy, BEAUTIFUL cake I have EVER seen…I plan on shamelessly trying to mimick your perfection results for either Thanksgiving, Noël or New Year’s Eve finales…This is truly a showstopper, jaw-drop inducing work of art…Thank you for sharing your brilliance!

Donna says:

2012/10/31 at 4:12 am

This…is….the most classy, BEAUTIFUL cake I have EVER seen…I plan on shamelessly trying to mimic your perfection results for either Thanksgiving, Noël or New Year’s Eve finales…This is truly a showstopper, jaw-drop inducing work of art…Thank you for sharing your brilliance!

Oops..forgot to ask…If I cannot locate the Del Monte raspberry filling (living in Europe)..could I use something else…or make my own substitute?…Thanks for any direction in this regard…Splendid recipe!

- Deeba @ PAB says:
  
  2012/10/31 at 6:26 am
  
  Hi there Donna, You are too good lady! Thank you for your words! I think you could use a preserve or maybe frozen raspberries cooked down a bit to a jammy consistency and cooled?
  
Gloria says:

2012/10/31 at 5:32 am

absolutely beautiful dear Debba xoxoxoxo
Gloria´s last [type] ..Spinachs and parmesan filling crepes

Runnergirlinthekitchen says:

2012/10/31 at 8:25 am

The cake is stunning, what a lovely way to celebrate !
Runnergirlinthekitchen´s last [type] ..Celebrating Kojaagari Poornima with Masala Doodh

Sarvani @ baker in disguise says:

2012/10/31 at 9:30 am

wow.. I like the sound of this raspberry filling.. should look for it in the market!! yeah.. you are right.. with the quark, the dark choc, the fruit filling.. this is like your signature.. for me say quark.. and i think PAB! great going!
Sarvani @ baker in disguise´s last [type] ..Whole Wheat Bread : ‘TWD : Baking with Julia’

Himanshu @ The White Ramekins says:

2012/10/31 at 10:49 am

what a luscious cake !!! your recipes with quark are pushing me hard to make my own
Himanshu @ The White Ramekins´s last [type] ..Chocolate Almond Pear Cake

shooting star says:

2012/10/31 at 11:04 am

what a wonderful cake!!…love!!!!!

and something I cant even think of attempting!!
shooting star´s last [type] ..Snorkeling in Bali ~ Alive is Awesome

Veena says:

2012/10/31 at 11:37 am

I love Raspberry and dark chocolate combination! super yummy cake! love i
great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com

Ruchira says:

2012/11/01 at 5:20 pm

gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I love how many avatars of quark you do.
Ruchira´s last [type] ..Lemon thumbprint cookies with strawberry jam

Avanika {Yumsilicious Bakes} says:

2012/11/04 at 12:21 am

That cake looks gorgeous, and you so have a ‘signature’ style, with the collars.
Avanika {Yumsilicious Bakes}´s last [type] ..Oatmeal Raisin Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies.. or Cowboy Cookies

ERIKA says:

2012/11/04 at 5:38 pm

Stunning. Very beautiful done. I bet it was delicious

bakery recipes says:

2012/11/05 at 5:29 pm

What i can say is i can’t just imagine that i can made this cake at home itself.. really a yummy cake which looks elegant too.. perfect topping with chocolate crumbs.. just love it..
bakery recipes´s last [type] ..The Delicious Varieties Of Pastries

Nash at Plateful says:

2012/11/07 at 4:38 pm

your cakes are always so gorgeous Deeba, you need to teach me how to bake this beautifully! Seriously!

Paula says:

2013/04/30 at 11:30 pm

Hi, Deeba

My name is Paula and I am writing from Brazil! I would like to congratulate you for such a beautiful blog, actually the best I have ever visited! The pictures, the recipes… Everything beautiful, externalizing your sensibility. I have done the bavarian mousse strawberry cake for my husband’s 40th birthday yesterday ans my family just loved it. Now, I have a question for you: I find your chocolate filigree such a beautiful thing and I have tried to do it with a small whole on a plastic bag but it doesn’t look at all like yours. Do you use a special tip to draw it? Would you post a video showing how you do it, please? I know it is like your signature, something that represents indian henna drawings, but I find it so beautiful that I have decided to ask… Thanks and congratulations!

Paula says:

2013/04/30 at 11:36 pm

Beautifulll!!