- Preheat oven to 170/150 fan.
- Sift together the cocoa, sugar and almonds and set aside.
- Seperate the egg whites and whisk until it forms stiff peaks
and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and vanilla essence until
pale in colour.
- Using a metal spoon, add just one spoon of the stiff egg whites
to the egg yolk mix and stir in. This method acclimatises the
mixture.
- Fold in the remaining egg whites to the mixture, being careful
not to over mix.
- Use a metal spoon to fold in the dry mixture into the batter,
gently turning and folding the mixture together.
- Line two 8 inch sandwich tins and evenly distribute the cake
batter between the two. Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes. When
baked a skewer should come out clean and the top should be springy.
Allow to cool on a wire rack before adding filling.
Make the buttercream filling and frosting:
- Use the flatbeaters on the hand
mixer and place the softened butter, vanilla and cocoa into a
large bowl, mixing slowly to combine.
- Continue to mix and add the icing sugar a spoon at a time along
with the 1-2 tsp of warm water for a looser consistency. More water
can be added if required.
- Once the acquired consistency has been acheived set aside. When
the sponges have cooled use half the buttercream to sandwich the
sponges together, then use the other half to spread over the
top.
- Decorate with fresh raspberries and dust with a little
cocoa.
Top tips:
- 50-100g melted dark chocolate can be used in place of cocoa for
the frosting, or the cake batter.
- Add half a punnet of crushed raspberries to the butter cream,
and the remaining on top for decoration.
- Dust the tins with cocoa powder on top of the parchment before
baking.