Special Raspberry Torte Food

SPECIAL RASPBERRY TORTE

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottoms of two greased 9-in. round baking pans with parchment paper; grease paper., In a large bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition., With clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter., Transfer batter to prepared pans. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and edges are golden, Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove paper. Cool completely. In a large bowl, beat shortening and butter until combined. Beat in confectioner's sugar alternately with extract and enough milk to reach a spreading consistency., Using a long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place one cake layer on a serving plate; spread with half of the preserves. Top with another cake layer and 3/4 cup frosting. Place third cake layer over frosting; spread with remaining preserves. Top with remaining cake layer., Frost top and sides of cake with 1 cup frosting, forming a crumb coating. Refrigerate cake until frosting is set, about 30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and cover with remaining frosting. Top with raspberries.

RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE TORTE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Line the bases of two 23cm cake tins with baking parchment. Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave; leave to cool. Stir in the vanilla and coffee powder.
• Whizz the almonds in a food processor until finely ground, then add flour and salt, and transfer to a bowl. Whisk the eggs with an electric mixer for 5 mins, until doubled in volume. Slowly add the sugar, whisk for 1 min more. Fold in the cooled chocolate mixture until just combined. Sprinkle over half the flour mixture and fold in, then the other half. The mixture will be rather runny.
• Divide between the two tins and bake for about 15 mins until a skewer comes out with a few crumbs attached - the sponges should be slightly undercooked. Cool in tin, then turn out onto a wire rack.
• Choose the less perfect of the two, then set it on a serving plate. Mash 12 raspberries and stir in the jam. Spread on the base, then top with the other cake.
• For the glaze, bring the cream to the boil, pour it over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Leave for a few mins until starting to thicken, then spread over the top and sides to cover. Decorate with raspberries. Chill for up to 24 hrs. Remove from fridge 1 hr before serving, dust with icing sugar, and serve with vanilla cream.

QUICK RASPBERRY TORTE

Steps:

• In a small mixing bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form.
• Add confectioners' sugar; beat until stiff peaks form.
• Place pudding in a bowl; fold in whipped cream.
• Split cake into three horizontal layers.
• Spread half of the jam over the bottom layer; repeat layers.
• Top with third cake layer.
• Cut into slices; dollop with pudding mixture.

RASPBERRY CREAM TORTE

Steps:

• Wafers:.
• Trace two 8-inch circles on each of two pieces of parchment paper.
• Invert and place on baking sheets.
• In a large bowl, lightly whisk egg whites, gradually whisk in sugar, flour, butter, water and vanilla just until blended.
• Drop 1/3 cup batter onto each circle, gently spread to cover circle.
• Bake one sheet at a time in upper half of 400°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are just beginning to brown, let cool on baking sheet on rack for 2 minutes.
• Using metal spatula, transfer wafers to flat surface, let cool completely.
• Repeat with remaining batter to make 9 wafers.
• (Wafers can be layered between waxed paper in airtight container and stored for up to 2 days).
• Raspberry Sauce:.
• In a food processor or blender, puree raspberries until smooth; press through sieve into bowl to remove seeds.
• Whisk in sugar and liqueur if using.
• (Sauce can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
• In bowl, whip cream with icing sugar.
• Place one wafer on serving plate, spread with 1/2 cup of the whipped cream.
• Drizzle with 1/4 cup of the raspberry sauce.
• Repeat layering with remaining wafers, cream and sauce.
• Top with remaining wafer.
• Cover and refrigerate for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until wafers have softened just enough to cut into wedges.
• Top last wafer with sifted icing sugar and whole half-frozen raspberries.
• (The raspberry makes a beautiful presentation, but any berry or fruit sauce can be used, or if you like any kind of icing may be used. Try chocolate garnished with mint or flavour the whipped cream with cocoa and maybe mint essence).

CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• Make the tart dough: Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until a coarse meal forms. Add egg and pulse just until a crumbly dough comes together. If the dough seems dry, drizzle in a teaspoon or two of water. Press dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight (or up to 5 days).
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 3/8-inch thickness (about an 11-inch round). Place dough into a 9-inch tart pan, folding the extra dough in over the edges to build up the sides. Prick bottom of dough all over with a fork; chill in freezer for at least 30 minutes and up to 48 hours. (Cover lightly with plastic wrap if freezing for more than a couple of hours.)
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the tart crust with foil, and fill with baking weights or dried rice or beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights and continue to bake until shell is light golden, another 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
• Prepare the filling: In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries and sugar over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until berries break down, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir in lemon juice and use a fork or wooden spoon to mash raspberries to a purée.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and egg. Slowly add 1/4 cup of hot raspberry purée to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Slowly drizzle the egg-raspberry mixture back into the saucepan with remaining purée, whisking constantly to keep eggs from cooking. Turn the heat to medium-low, and add butter and a pinch of salt to the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat a spoon, about 7 to 9 minutes.
• Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard on the solids, into a bowl. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, then whisk briefly to smooth.
• Pour raspberry filling into the tart shell. Bake until filling is set (it should jiggle only slightly in the center), about 14 to 22 minutes. Remove tart from oven and increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.
• Start preparing the meringue: Using a blender or food processor, blend the freeze-dried raspberries until you get a fine powder speckled with seeds. (The seeds won't break down so don't even try.) Set aside 1 tablespoon of raspberry powder for garnish. Combine cocoa powder with remaining raspberry powder to use for the meringue.
• Place chocolate in heatproof bowl, and melt in microwave in 10-second intervals, stirring after each, until smooth. Set aside. (Or you can melt the chocolate in a pot on the stove over low heat, stirring constantly.)
• Fill a medium pot with 1 inch of water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. In a large metal bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and salt. Set the mixing bowl with the egg white mixture into the pot above the water, and whisk constantly by hand until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm (160 degrees on an instant thermometer) and has thickened and lightened in color, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-low speed and gradually increase speed to high, until mixture is thick and fluffy, and stiff peaks form, about 5 to 8 minutes. Be careful not to overbeat.
• Sprinkle raspberry-cocoa mixture on top of meringue. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in mixture 2 to 3 times to halfway incorporate, but remains very streaky. (Do not overmix.) Drizzle melted chocolate into meringue and gently fold until just combined and still streaky. Take care not to deflate the meringue very much. (It will deflate somewhat.)
• Spread the meringue over the hot filling, making sure it meets the edges of the crust. Using a knife or spatula, swirl in a design. Bake until lightly browned, about 7 to 10 minutes.
• Allow to cool completely and sprinkle the top with a little of the reserved raspberry powder. (Save the extra to perk up oatmeal, smoothies and peanut butter sandwiches.)